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South Korea Autumn 2025 – 8 days in Jeonju, Gwangju and Seoul

2026-03-28T11:22:00.003+08:00

One of the best times to visit South Korea is in autumn (September to November). During these months, the weather is cool and dry with beautiful scenery coloured by vibrant foliage of yellow gingkos and red maples.

In this November trip to South Korea, we spent 2 days exploring Jeonju Hanok Village and then 2 days in Gwangju, specifically to make day trips out from this city to Naejangsan National Park and Damyang. We ended our trip with 3 days in Seoul.

I chose to include Jeonju in my itinerary as Jeonju has the largest hanok village in Korea and is deeply tied to Korea's Joseon Dynasty. Jeonju was the ancestral home of the Yi clan, the family of King Taejo (Yi Seong-gye), who founded the Joseon Dynasty, making it a significant place for the royal lineage. Many historical K-dramas featuring stories in the Joseon era were filmed in this city.

Jeonju is also a city with plenty of food tradition. Bibimbap, one of the most representative food of Korea, was born out of Jeonju and the region of Jeollado-province, where the city is located.

Jeonju bibimbap

We were travelling in mid-November which was tail-end of the autumn leaves season in South Korea but I was confident that we could still experience the autumn foliage since the weather had been unusually warm in 2025 and winter will start later. Hence, we grabbed the opportunity to visit Naejangsan National Park, which is highly raved as one of the best mountains to see the autumn foliage in South Korea.

Autumn foliage at Naejangsan National Park.

We stayed 2 nights in Gwangju, a city famous for the pro-democracy uprising in May of 1980 and also its delicious cuisine. We did not have time to explore Gwangju fully. Instead, we used this city as a base to make day trips to Naejangsan National Park and Damyang. Damyang is known for the famous Juknokwon bamboo forest and Metasequoia-line Road and is best access by bus from Gwangju.

On a trail in Juknokwon bamboo forest in Damyang.

We ended our short trip in Seoul. We had been to Seoul several times before. This time, we spent 3 days to explore new and upcoming areas such as Ikseon-dong, Seongsu-dong and Naksan. Plus, enjoying more Korean food!

Besides autumn leaves viewing, we intended to try as much local cuisine as we can on this trip. It made sense to do prior research as to what and where to eat some of the best cuisine in places like Jeonju and Gwangju and even Seoul. We had iconic Korean dishes like

Bibimbap, tteokgalbi, makgeolli, moju and choco-pies in Jeonju and Gwangju
Korean BBQ of lamb skewers (Yang-kochi), pork belly and Korean beef (hanwoo).
Korean ginseng chicken soup (samgyetang)
Various kinds of Korean Soup Rice (gukbap) or stew (jjigae). This included gukbap with blood sausage (sundae), Jeonju’s bean sprout soup (kongnamul-gukbap), pork back-bone stew (gamjatang) and ox bone soup (seolleongtang)

The following is a day by day summary of our 8 days in South Korea.

Day 1 (14 November 2025) – Arrival and travel to Jeonju. Explore Jeonju Hanok Village.

Our flight arrived as scheduled and by the time we cleared immigration, it was around 8 AM. We planned to stay a couple of days in a hanok located within Jeonju Hanok Village after our arrival to South Korea. The distance between Incheon International Airport (ICN) and Jeonju city is about 242 km and the best and also cheapest way to get from Incheon Airport (ICN) to Jeonju was by express bus. The trip would normally take slightly over 3 hours on a comfortable, spacious limousine bus. We took longer than that due to a little error we made at the airport. We finally arrived at the Jeonju Intercity Bus Terminal at about 1 PM. From there, we took a short 15 minutes taxi ride to the Jeonju Hanok Village.

Trip report: Travel from Incheon International Airport to Jeonju Hanok Village.

Where we stayed: Our accommodation in Jeonju Hanok Village was the Star Rest Guesthouse located in the southern edge of the village.

Trip report: Our stay at a hanok in Jeonju Hanok Village.

We had lunch at Veteran Kalguksu restaurant which is known for its signature hot, savory knife-cut noodle soup with a rich, eggy broth, perilla seed, and seaweed.

A hot savoury bowl of noodle soup was perfect comfort food after a long journey by red-eye flight from Singapore and long bus rides from the airport.

We spent the afternoon exploring the main street of Jeonju hanok village and went to Omokdae. Omokdae is a historical site located on top of a steep hill and provides a vantage point over the Jeonju Hanok Village.

Beautiful pavilion and autumn leaves at Omokdae.

From Omokdae, it was a short walk to Jaman Mural Village located next to the Jeonju Hanok Village. The Jaman Mural Village is a colorful village filled with murals along its walls. We enjoyed murals of nostalgic anime characters, celebrities, fairytale scenes, floral patterns, and creative local art and also had coffee in a really beautifully decorated cafe.

Fun snapping photos at Jaman Mural Village.

Jeonju Hanok Village is frequently used as filming locations for Korean movies and dramas. We had time to seek out a few such locations in the village.

Many scenes from the K-drama Twenty-Five Twenty One were filmed in Jeonju Hanok Village, including this tunnel.

We also check out Jeonju's version of Choco Pie from PNB Bakery and it was pretty good.

Jeonju’s Choco Pie

We ended the day eating the must-try bibimbap at Hankook Jib. We had both the Jeonju bibimbap and yukhoe (Korea’s beef tartar) bibimbap.

Yukhoe Bibimbap with raw minced beef.

We also tried the moju (literally “mother's wine”) which is a Jeonju makgeolli (rice wine) with medicinal herbs like jujube, ginger and cinnamon.

Trip report: Exploring Jeonju Hanok Village – Day 1

Day 2 (15 November 2025) – Exploring Jeonju Hanok Village

Arched bridge over Jeonjucheon River.

We started the day with a morning walk along the Jeonjucheon River to the Nambu Market. We specifically went to this market to eat the kongnamul gukbap (bean sprout soup) from the Hyundaiok store.

Kongnamul gukbap (bean sprout soup) in Nambu Market is highly recommended for breakfast in Jeonju Hanok Village.

We walked past the Pungnammun Gate, built during the Joseon dynasty, on our way to the Gyeonggijoen Shrine. There are many gingko trees planted on the side of the roads leading to the gate and the area was beautiful in autumn.

Pungnammun Gate

Gyeonggijoen Shrine is a highlight of Jeonju. The shrine holds the portrait of King Tae-jo, the founder of the Joseon dynasty.

Best time to visit Gyeonggijoen Shrine is in autumn.

Gyeonggijoen Shrine is extremely beautiful in autumn. Many people were dressed in traditional hanbok costume and doing photo-shoot inside and outside the shrine. Many of these buildings were actually used to film movies and dramas depicting the Joseon era, such as the drama “Love in the Moonlight.”

Portrait of King Tae-jo, the founder of the Joseon dynasty.

We joined the 11 AM free English language tour. We were hosted by an excellent guide who explained the history of the shrine and why the king’s portrait is important to the Korean people, especially those in Jeonju. The tour ended outside the Royal Portrait Museum and we went to see the exhibits inside. This museum exhibits the original portraits of Joseon kings and other relics like royal palanquins used during the enshrinement of King Taejo’s portrait in 1872.

Leaving the shrine, we walked along the Gyeonggijeon Stone Wall Road to the Jeondong Ddeokgalbi restaurant. Tteokgalbi is a popular Korean dish of sweet and savory grilled short rib patties, resembling burgers. It is juicy and sweeter in seasoning and is a signature food in this region.

We went back to the entrance of Gyeonggijeon Shrine after lunch. We were just in time to catch the “changing of the guard” ceremony.

Changing of the Guards Ceremony at entrance to Gyeonggijoen Shrine. The guards are dresses in traditional Joseon era uniforms.

We joined the free hanok village alley tour at 3 PM. We visited a few places of interest within the hanok village during the tour. This includes the Jeondong Catholic Church, Hagindang, a 600 year old gingko tree, pansori museum, home of last prince of Joseon and even a house with 3 flags (Korean, France and USA) flying outside. It was good to have a local guide explaining the history and significance of the places we visited.

Listening to our guide during the hanok village alley tour.

We spent the rest of the day exploring the hanok village on our own. Not to miss is the Jeonju hyanggyo where there are many gingko trees inside, including a 400-year-old ginkgo tree.

Jeonju hyanggyo with many beautiful gingko trees in autumn. This is another popular K-drama and movie filming location.

We ended our exploration of the hanok village with another tteokgalbi dinner at Gyodong Tteokgalbi.

Tteokgalbi dinner in Jeonju.

Trip report: Exploring Jeonju Hanok Village – Day 2.

Day 3 (16 November 2025) - Travel to Gwangju by bus. Day trip to Damyang to see Juknokwon Bamboo Forest and the Metasequoia-lined Road.

The plan for the day was to travel from Jeonju to Gwangju in the early morning. Upon arriving in Gwangju, we would store our luggage in the lockers at the bus terminal and make a day trip to Damyang to see the Juknokwon Bamboo Forest and Metasequoia-Lined Road. We would check into our hotel in Gwangju at the end of the day.

With help from our helpful hanok host, we managed to catch the 8.10 AM express bus to Gwangju. After leaving our luggage in the lockers at Usquare Gwangju Bus Terminal, we took the local bus 311 to Damyang. The journey took about 1.5 hours and the bus stops directly at Juknokwon. Juknokwon (namely Bamboo Garden) is the most famous bamboo forest in South Korea and is certainly worth a visit. This bamboo forest is open all year round. Autumn is a nice time to visit as it is cooler and less humid.

Within the large and dense bamboo forest, there are many walking trails for those looking to enjoy peaceful walks close to nature and snapping photos without the crowds. Overall, we had about 2.5 hours of fun exploring the trails and taking lots of photos within the bamboo forest.

Trip report: Day trip to Damyang Bamboo Garden (Juknokwon) from Gwangju.

After Juknokwon, we went to see the Metasequoia-lined Road, located about 2 km away. As the name implies, the Metasequoia-lined Road is an 8.5 km boulevard with towering metasequoia trees planted on both sides. The canopies of the trees form a nice “tunnel” if you walk down the road.

Metasequoia-lined Road in Damyang.

It is especially beautiful in autumn when the leaves of the trees turned golden and crimson in the afternoon sun.

Although there are many people visiting Metasequoia-lined Road on this weekend, there are plenty of photo opportunities. We enjoyed our visit to Damyang and snapped plenty of photos.

One of my favourite photos in Damyang.

Trip report: A walk down a Metasequoia-lined Road in Damyang.

Returning to Gwangju, we checked into our hotel (Madrid Hotel) located near Gwangju Seongjeong Station.

There are many eating places near the train station and our hotel. We had Yang-kochi (Grilled Lamb Skewers) in a Korea-Chinese Restaurant called Jangbaesan.

The most interesting thing about the yangkochi is the automatic, self-rotating grills, which allow diners to cook the skewers easily at the table.

This dish has a history rooted in Chinese cuisine that was later adopted and popularized in South Korea as a staple "Korean-Chinese" dish. It was the first time we tried yangkochi in Korea and we loved it.

Trip report: Yang-kochi (Lamb Skewers) dinner at Gwangju’s Jangbaesan Restaurant.

Where we stayed in Gwangju: We stayed at the Gwangju Madrid Hotel. I chose this hotel which is located within walking distance from the Gwangju Seongjeong KTX Station since we would travelling by KTX (South Korea’s High Speed Rail) on the next 2 days for a day trip to Naejangsan National Park and then to Seoul.

Day 4 (17 November 2025) – Day trip to Neajangsan National Park

Naejangsan National Park is located near Jeongeup, a city in North Jeolla Province. We made a daytrip to Naejangsan from Gwangju since it is only 20 minutes away by KTX (Korea’s high speed train).

This place is extremely popular and hence crowded during the peak autumn foliage season. It is advisable to arrive early on a weekday to beat the expected crowds so we had an early start from Gwangju. We enjoyed a hearty bowl of boiling hot gukbap at the popular Yeongmyeong Gukbap shop located opposite the train station.

One of the best breakfasts we had on this trip. Gukbap that came with cuts of tender pork head meat, pig stomach, liver, bean sprouts and sundae in a boiling pot of rich savoury broth.

From Jeongeup Station, we took the local bus No. 171 to Naejangsan National Park. It was about 9 AM when we alighted at the small town beside the Naejangsan National Park.

The views of the autumn leaves at this park were magnificent. We were not hampered by any crowds by going on a weekday and arriving early.

The “maple-tree tunnel” from the park entrance to Uhwajeong Pavilion is one of the best places to enjoy the autumn foliage.

Some “must-not-miss” highlights in the park include Uhwajeong Pavilion, cable Car to Yeonjabong Peak, Maple Tree Trail to Naejangsa Temple and the trail from the entrance of the park to Uhwajeong Pavilion.

Trip report: Day trip to Naejangsan National Park in autumn.

We left Naejangsan relatively early and got seats on bus 171 back to Jeongeup Station. From there, we took the KTX back to Gwangju SeongJeong Station.

One of Gwangju’s signature local delicacies is the tteokgalbi (grilled minced beef or pork short rib patties).

Tteokgalbi dinner at Gwangju’s Tteokgalbi Street.

The best place to try this dish while visiting Gwangju is at the Tteokgalbi Street in Gwangju Songjeong-dong which was just minutes walk from the train station and our hotel.

Trip report: Tteokgalbi - Must eat food at Gwangju.

Day 5 (18 November 2035) – Travel by KTX to Seoul and free and easy in Myeongdong

My original plan for the day is to travel from Gwangju to Seoul by KTX (South Korea’s High Speed Train) in the morning and go explore the Daehak-ro and Naksan area in the afternoon. But Seoul was experiencing an unusual cold spell on this day. I thought Naksan, being at higher elevation would be cold, so our plan changed. We spent the afternoon in Myeongdong instead. Myeongdong is a famous shopping district in the heart of Seoul, known for its dense concentration of Korean cosmetics, fashion brands, restaurants and vibrant street food.

We had lunch at Sinseon Seolleongtang (Myeongdong Branch). Sinseon Seolleongtang is a popular restaurant chain found all over Korea serving up tasty bowls of ox bone soup known as seolleongtang.

Ox bone soup known as seolleongtang.

After an afternoon of shopping, we had pork BBQ at the Hanam Pig House.

Hanam Pig House is a popular Korean BBQ chain specializing in premium, grilled pork (pork belly, shoulder loin, ribs).

Trip report: Travel to Seoul and shopping & eating in Myeongdong

Where we stayed: Our hotel in Seoul for the next 3 nights is the Ibis Ambassador Myeongdong. We chose this hotel because it is located close to bus stops along Namdaemun-ro, Euljiro 1-ga (Line 2) subway station. The bus stop for the limousine bus to the airport is also just at its doorstep!

Day 6 (19 November 2025) - Explore Seoul’s Seongsu-dong area

The Seongdong-gu area, best known for the trendy Seongsu-dong area, often called the "Brooklyn of Seoul," which blends industrial, repurposed warehouses with chic cafes, pop-up stores, and street art. We planned to spend the whole day exploring the area.

We went to Seoul Forest in the early morning before visiting Seongsu-dong since the shops and cafes open after 11 AM. Seoul Forest Park is known for cherry blossoms in spring, lush greenery in summer, and ginkgo trees in autumn. There is also a deer corral in the park and access to Hangang Riverside Park.

Seoul Forest is known for their beautiful gingko trees in autumn.

It was about 11.30 AM when we left Seoul Forest. We made a stop at Lowide Coffee Bakery, located near Seoul Forest. After the coffee break, we continued our exploration of Seongsu-dong.

There are plenty of cafes, restaurant and stores to explore. We had delicious gamjatang, a Korean pork and potato stew, at Somunnan Seongsu Gamjatang and also tried the famous salt-bread from Jayeondo Sogeumppang and pies from Ho Gwa Dang Tiger Pie House.

Yummy stuff we had in Seongsu-dong.

We ended our visit to Seongsu-dong at Haus Nowhere. I particularly like the gigantic animatronics dog at the ground floor. The sleeping dog was so realistic, complete with gentle breathing, muscle twitches.

Gigantic animatronics dog at Haus Nowhere, Seongsu-dong.

In addition to the dog, there are other impressive displays of robots.

Since we were near to the COEX Mall, we took a bus there. Just to visit the Starfield Library.

We ended the day having hanwoo or Korea beef at Wangbijib Korean BBQ Restaurant, Myeongdong branch.

Korea beef barbeque to satisfy our craving for high grade Korean beef.

Trip report: Autumn morning at Seoul Forest and afternoon at Seongsu-dong and COEX Mall.

Day 7 (20 November 2025) – Explore Seoul’s Naksan area and Ikseon-dong

Since the weather turned warmer on this day, we decided to go explore the area around Naksan Park in the morning, followed by Ikseon-dong in the afternoon.

We wanted to visit Naksan Park for the views of Seoul city from the summit of Naksan and also the see the Seoul fortress wall that had been featured in many k-dramas and movies.

We took the bus to Daehak-ro, near the Hyehwa Subway Station and Marronnier Park. This area is nice to visit before making our way up to Naksan Park.

Marronnier Park along Daehak-ro.

Naksan Park is nice to visit in autumn. We spend time taking photos of the landscape along the Seoul Fortress Wall. Seoul fortress wall at Naksan.

There is a walking trail along the Seoul Seonggwak (fortress wall) stretching about 2 km from Hyehwamun to Heunginjimun, the East Gate of Seoul. The walk down to Heunginjimun is particularly nice in autumn with views of the city and vast fields of silver autumn grass.

Heunginjimun, the East Gate of Seoul, at Dongdaemun.

We also spent time exploring Ihwa Mural Village. There are some nice cafes there that is worth a visit.

After visiting Naksan Park, we went to shop for some toys and gifts at Dongdaemun Stationery and Toy Street. This vibrant alleyway is home to nearly 120 shops selling toys, stationery, and party goods.

Trip report: Exploring Seoul – Daehak-ro, Naksan Park and Toy Street.

From Dongdaemun, we took a bus to Ikseon-dong for lunch and also to check out the famous cafes. This area has many trendy boutiques, themed cafes, restaurants and pubs.

Narrow alleyway lined with cafes, restaurants and boutiques in Ikseon-dong.

Steak pot rice at Damsot Ikseon for lunch.

Dessert at Cafe Onhwa Ikseon.

We ended our visit to Ikseon-dong and also food tour in South Korea with dinner at Jangsu Samgyetang restaurant. This restaurant is a highly recommended for their delicious and value-for-money samgyetang.

Samgyetang, or Korean ginseng chicken soup, is a nourishing dish featuring a whole young chicken stuffed with glutinous rice, garlic, jujubes, and ginseng.

Trip report: Exploring Ikseon-dong Hanok Village.

Day 8 (21 November 2025) – Travel to airport

From Myeongdong, we took the 6015 Airport Limousine bus to Incheon International Airport. This bus runs directly from Myeongdong to Incheon Airport (T1/T2), taking roughly 60 to 85 minutes, depending on traffic conditions.

Personally I prefer the bus to the train since we need not lug our suitcases up and down the stairs to the train station. We chose to stay at a hotel (Ibis Ambassador Myeongdong) that has the limousine bus stop to the airport at its doorstep!

Travel from Incheon International Airport to Jeonju Hanok Village

2026-01-10T09:31:00.000+08:00

14 November 2025

We planned to stay a couple of days in a hanok located within Jeonju Hanok Village after our arrival to South Korea. The distance between Incheon International Airport (ICN) and Jeonju city is about 242 km. There are various ways to travel from Incheon International Airport to Jeonju Hanok Village.

The fastest way to get from Incheon International Airport (ICN) to Jeonju is to drive but I did not plan to get a rental car on this trip.

Alternatively, we could take a train from the airport to Jeonju Hanok Village via Seoul Station, Gwangmyeong Station, and Jeonju Station in around 4.5 hours. From there, we would have to take a taxi to the Jeonju Hanok Village.

We chose the best and also cheapest way to get from Incheon Airport (ICN) to Jeonju which was by express bus which costs $28 - $40 and takes slightly over 3 hours. The bus terminal is located close to the Jeonju Hanok Village.

Our flight arrived as scheduled and by the time we cleared immigration, it was around 8 AM. The bus ticket counter and ticketing machines was just outside the gate in the arrival hall.

We chose to go to the ticket counter as there were queues on the ticketing machines. I was telling my wife that Jeonju is pronounced as “Cheonju” just like Jeju is pronounced as Cheju by the Koreans.

It was 8.08 AM when we got our tickets and the ticket seller told us to hurry as the bus is leaving at 8.10 am from the bus bay nearby.

With the tickets on hand, we rushed to the bus stops for the various limousine buses, located just outside the arrival hall of the airport. We managed to catch the bus on time. The good thing about taking the limousine bus is that our suitcases are loaded onto the luggage compartment on the side of the bus and we need not lug them up to our seats. The express buses are also very spacious with comfortable reclinable seats.

Interior of the Express Bus with 3 reclinable seats per row.

The bus left immediately after we boarded. I was feeling a bit uneasy since the bus fare was slightly lower than what I had expected. On inspecting our tickets, it showed our destination as Cheongju!

We are going to Cheongju?

It was good that we had internet connections on our mobile phones. After a bit of googling, I found that there is actually a city called Cheongju and the ticket seller had sold us tickets to Cheongju instead of Jeonju!

With the language barrier and the fact that the bus is an express bus with no stops in between, we figured that we had no choice but to ride the bus all the way to Cheongju. It was a good thing Cheongju is actually located in between Seoul and Jeonju so we are heading in the right direction although there was a slight detour.

Fortunately, there was an Intercity bus from Cheongju to Jeonju leaving at 10.50 AM from the same bus terminal and we would be in time to catch this bus, if there is no further setback.

The ride to Cheongju took slightly over 2 hours. The ride on the airport express bus was very comfortable. After the clamp conditions in the plane, the spacious seats with plenty of legroom to stretch out felt so good.

We arrived at the Cheongju Intercity Bus Terminal as scheduled. I was happy to see the clear blue sky and the rows of yellow gingko trees lining the streets in Cheongju. It looked like our timing was just about perfect for autumn leaves viewing. Like the year before, the weather in 2025 had been warmer than usual, so autumn has been delayed by a few weeks.

Rows of yellow gingko trees at Cheongju.

We managed to book our tickets for the 10.50 AM Intercity bus to Jeonju at the Cheongju Intercity Bus Terminal. This time, I made sure we got the destination right.

Our intercity bus tickets from Cheongju to Jeonju.

Although the distance between Cheongju and Jeonju is only about 115 km, the ride to Jeonju took slightly over 2 hours as the bus is not an express bus and made a few stops at Daejeon city along the route. We finally arrived at the Jeonju Intercity Bus Terminal at about 1 PM. From there, we took a short 15 minutes taxi ride to the Jeonju Hanok Village.

Jeonju Hanok Village with 700 traditional hanoks.

Our accommodation in Jeonju Hanok Village was the Star Rest Guesthouse located in the southern edge of the village and just a few metres walk from the paved roads running through the village.

Overall, our journey from the airport to Jeonju by express bus which was supposed to take about 3.5 hours and cost about 33,000 KRW took 5 hours and cost us a bit more instead. It was not a good start to our holiday but thankfully, the rest of our stay in Korea went as planned.

Lesson learnt: Show the intended destination in Korean text AND English text to the train or bus ticket seller, instead of trying to speak the language.

Alternatively, use the ticket machines which have English language option.

Our stay at a hanok in Jeonju Hanok Village

2026-01-08T14:59:00.000+08:00

14 and 15 November 2025

Jeonju has the largest hanok village in Korea and we chose to stay 2 nights in Star Rest Hanok. It is a charming, traditional Korean guesthouse located on the southern edge of the famous Jeonju Hanok Village.

Cobbled stone alleyway outside Star Rest Hanok.

Entrance to Star Rest Hanok.

The hanok came with modern comforts like ondol (heated floors) and private bathrooms.

Typical entrance to our room in a hanok. A place to sit to remove our footwear before entering.

The family that owns the business does not stay at the guesthouse. I had contacted them via KakaoTalk (with Google Translate) the day before to inform them of our expected arrival time so the host would meet us at the guesthouse when we arrive. Due to our boo-boo when travelling to Jeonju from the airport, we arrived 2 hours later than expected. I had to inform them of our unplanned delay. Thankfully, he received our message and even replied with a “please not to rush and travel safe”.

The hanok is located on the edge of the hanok village so it was easy to access. The hanok owner was waiting for us inside the hanok. He was an elderly man who speaks a bit of English that is well enough for us to understand him.

During check-in, he gave us some tourist information on recommended sights within the hanok village and also within Jeonju city. He also suggested some famous Jeonju cuisine and places to eat.

It is traditional to sit on the heated floor inside a hanok instead of chairs and table.

Chatting with the friendly hanok owner in the courtyard outside our room where he showed us some of his wooden carvings and calligraphy skills.

Entrance to our room. The wooden doors are secured using a simple padlock.

Calligraphy brushes.

He proudly told us he did the calligraphy displayed outside our room and demonstrated his calligraphy skills by writing his name in Chinese text 郑 with a large brush on a slab of stone on the ground. That was when we found out that his family name is the same as my wife's.

Carving by the owner with his name at the left lower edge.

Our room is fairly large and has an attached bathroom with WC and shower.

One downside of staying in a hanok is that there are no sofas and we had to sit and sleep on futons laid on the heated floor (ondol).

The owner showed us where the futons are kept and also explained how to set them up for our sleep at night.

Compared to thick mattresses found at home or in a standard hotel room, the futons were a bit hard to sleep on. For me, I was able to have a good night sleep on them.

Sitting and sleeping on the heated floor is part and parcel of the Korean floor-based living culture. Winter in Korea is very cold. In the old days, a small, wood-burning furnace (or stove) was typically located in an adjoining room, often the kitchen, and built at a lower level than the heated room. The hot air and smoke are channeled through horizontal flues beneath a thick masonry floor, which then radiated heat through the floor to the room. This ingeniously simple design provided efficient and long-lasting warmth to the floor of the house.

Today, the floor is heated using electricity with the temperature control mounted on the wall. The heated floor was quite effective in keeping the room warm. In fact, my wife found the floor a little too warm and we had to turn the heating down in the middle of the night.

The next morning, I made some hot drinks for breakfast using the self-service pantry in the common area. The pantry is well stock and has everything we need to make hot drinks for breakfast.

It is usual for the locals to sit on the verandah of a hanok for meals. Although the morning was a little chilly, it was a nice experience.

Hot coffee and PNB choco-pies for a light breakfast snack.

Enjoying the ambience of the hanok.

Main gate of the hanok right outside our room.

Just when we were about to head out to explore the village, the owner showed up. I had a chat with him and enquired about the ease of getting a taxi from the hanok village in the morning. I told him that I planned to check out at 7 AM the next day, get a taxi to the Jeonju Express Bus terminal to catch the 8.10 AM bus to Gwangju.

He was keen to help us arrange for a taxi but told us he would not be able to come so early in the morning. Being the helpful person, he requested help from a gentleman sweeping the floor of the alleyway outside our hanok to help book taxi for us the next day.

This person is actually the owner of hanok next door. He told us he would meet us outside our hanok at 7.30 AM the next morning to help us call for a taxi. The ride to the bus terminal would take about 15 minutes and we should be in time to catch our bus.

With that arrangement done, we thanked the two men and went out to enjoy our day in the hanok village.

When we returned in the evening, we found a basket full of goodies in our room.

This was left in our room when we returned to our room at the end of Day 2. Perfect drinks and snacks for our breakfast before checking out early the next morning.

The next morning, we were ready to go by 7 AM. Our hanok is located near to the Jeonju stream. Since we were early, we went to the river side to snap some photos.

Sunrise at Jeonju.

At 7.20 AM, the neighbour showed up. He helped call for a taxi using a mobile app on his phone. 10 minutes later, the taxi arrived. The kind gentleman even helped load our luggage into the taxi before bidding us goodbye.

We made it to the express bus terminal as planned. Tickets for the buses can be booked in advance online but it would be challenging for tourists who do not have access to the local payment systems. Hence we had to book our tickets at the bus terminal on the day of travel.

We managed to book the last 2 tickets for the bus to Gwangju! We knew it was the last 2 tickets because we were seated in the last row of the bus. Lucky us.

Last 2 tickets on the 8.10 AM express bus from Jeonju to Gwangju.

We left Jeonju with warm feeling in our hearts. We had good experiences in our hanok stay. We had wonderful interactions with friendly people who provided local tips, warm hospitality and go out of their way to make our stay comfortable.

Exploring Jeonju Hanok Village – Day 1

2026-01-07T22:12:00.000+08:00

14 November 2025

On this relatively short trip to South Korea, I chose to include Jeonju in my itinerary. Jeonju has the largest hanok village in Korea and is deeply tied to Korea's Joseon Dynasty. Jeonju was the ancestral home of the Yi clan, the family of King Taejo (Yi Seong-gye), who founded the Joseon Dynasty, making it a significant place for the royal lineage. Many historical k-dramas featuring stories in the Joseon era were filmed in this city.

Jeonju is also a city with plenty of food tradition. Bibimbap, one of the most representative food of Korea, was born out of Jeonju and the region of Jeollado-province, where the city is located. Since we appreciate good food, we made it a point to research where are the places serving the best local cuisine.

While Jeonju could be visited as a day-trip from Seoul, we planned to stay a couple of days in a hanok located within Jeonju Hanok Village. We cannot come to Jeonju Hanok Village and not experience a stay in a traditional hanok.

Getting to Jeonju from the airport.

The distance between Incheon International Airport (ICN) and Jeonju city is about 242 km and we took the limousine bus from the airport to Jeonju. The trip should take slightly over 3 hours. Due to some miscommunication at the airport, we spend additional 2 hours of travel time. Read about our little boo-boo here.

We arrived at about 1 PM at the Jeonju Intercity Bus Terminal. From the bus terminal, it was easy to get a short 15 minutes taxi ride (cost 6,300 KRW) to our hanok.

Where we stayed in Jeonju

Entrance to the Starrest Hanok.

We chose to stay for 2 nights in Star Rest Hanok. It is a charming, traditional Korean guesthouse located on the southern edge of the famous Jeonju Hanok Village. More about our stay at Star Rest Hanok is in this separate post.

Lunch at Veteran Kalguksu (베테랑)

We had a late lunch at Veteran Kalguksu restaurant. This is a popular restaurant, operating since 1977, serving cheap and good food. It is known for its signature hot, savory knife-cut noodle soup with a rich, eggy broth, perilla seed, and seaweed.

Even though it was past the lunch hour, the restaurant was packed but we were offered a table immediately.

Their menu had hot kalguksu noodles (kalguksu), cold spicy noodles (Jjolmyeon) and dumplings (mandu) with either pork or kimchi fillings. We ordered the hot noodles and dumplings.

The noodles served here were chewy and al dente. The best thing I love was the savory broth with egg stirred in, topped with perilla seed powder, Korean chilli powder and roasted seaweed laver.

The menu includes half and half for the dumplings, so we got to try both. The dough used for the dumplings were nice and soft, and the fillings with pork and chopped vegetables were delicious.

This was perfect comfort food after a long journey by red-eye flight from Singapore and long bus rides from the airport.

Enjoy a walk through the hanok village and the autumn leaves!

Autumn is one of the best times to visit South Korea.

After lunch, we took a walk down the main street to the Gyeonggijeon Shrine. This place houses the portrait of King Taejo, founder of the Joseon dynasty. We planned to visit the shrine and the Portrait Museum on Day 2, so we just enjoyed views of the beautiful gingko trees outside the shrine and in the rest of the village.

Yellow leaves of the gingko trees outside the Gyeonggijeon Shrine.

We were glad that we came at almost the right time to enjoy the peak of the autumn foliage.

Many shops offering rentals of traditional clothes.

Many visitors to Jeonju Hanok Village, both male and female, were dressed in traditional clothes and hanboks. The whole place looked like the set of a period k-drama. In fact, many k-dramas filmed within the hanok village.

Visitors dressed in colourful hanboks.

Omokdae and Imokdae

After a mini-photo shoot outside the Gyeonggijeon Shrine, we went to Omokdae for the overview of Jeonju Hanok Village. Omokdae is a historical site located on top of a steep hill but the walk up to the site was easy and pleasant.

Stone signage marking the entrance to Jeonju Hanok Village on the way to Omokdae.

Omokdae is one of the places where Yi Seong-gye, who later became King Taejo, threw a party to celebrate his victory from a war against the Japanese army in 1380.

Pavilion at Omokdae.

Typical Korean architecture.

We had to take off our shoes before walking on the wooden floor of the pavilion.

The small hut houses the tablet with engraved writings of King Gojong, the second last emperor of the Joseon Dynasty.

Autumn foliage at the Omokdae.

Beside the beautiful pavilion and appreciating the historical significance of this site, visitors could also capture photographs of the roofs of the hanoks below.

Unfortunately, the vegetation was quite dense and I could not capture the entire hanok village.

There is a pedestrian bridge nearby that leads from Omokdae to the Imokdae Historic Site, situated at the edge of the Jaman Mural Village. We did not go to Imokdae, only viewing it from a distance.

Imokdae has another small hut housing a tablet with engraved writings of King Gojong, the second last emperor of the Joseon Dynasty.

Jaman Mural Village (자만벽화마을)

The Jaman Mural Village is a colorful village filled with murals along its walls. This is a residential area so we made it a point to speak softly and just enjoy the murals of nostalgic anime characters, celebrities, fairytale scenes, floral patterns, and creative local art.

The village is located on the side of a mountain so there are many narrow alleys that goes up and down within this village.

Entering from Omokdae meant we are entering the village from the top end which made our exploration a little easier since we are walking mostly downwards.

Here are some of the murals that we found interesting.

Spot the celebrities.

A good place to stop for a break was at this beautifully decorated cafe, with an ET character inside.

Common rule in Korean cafe is that we have to buy at least one drink per person.

View from the terrace.

Initially we sat on a terrace outside to enjoy the views of the landscape. We could see trees with leaves turning red and orange and also a couple of trees with no leaves but laden with ripe, orange-coloured persimmons in the village.

Later on, we moved inside the cafe to enjoy the ambience of the beautifully decorated sitting area with lots of toys and paintings on the walls.

The cafe is located somewhat in the mid-level of the mural village. There are still plenty of murals to enjoy after our break.

Here are more murals that we saw on our way down to the “entrance” of the Jaman Mural Village.

Overall, Jaman Mural Village is a nice place to visit for photos and chilling at a cafe.

Hanbyeokgul Tunnel - filming location of k-drama Twenty-Five Twenty-One

The sun was beginning to set when we went to see the Hanbyeokgul Tunnel, located a short walk from the Jaman Mural Village. This tunnel gained fame as a filming location for the popular series "Twenty-Five Twenty-One" and since we are k-drama fans, this place is worth a visit.

Even for non k-drama fans, this tunnel is worth a visit. This historic horseshoe-shaped tunnel was actually built during the Japanese colonial period (1929-1931) as a railway tunnel and is located near to some scenic spots, Hanbyeokdang Pavilion and the Jeonju Natural Ecology Museum.

It was good we visited at dusk so the lights in the tunnel were turned on.

Recreating an iconic scene from the drama. The tunnel was a backdrop for heartfelt conversations between the main characters in the drama.

The tunnel is still actively in used, so we had to look out for vehicular traffic while taking our photos. The road to the tunnel is narrow, so the occasional cars that used the tunnel were all going at a slow speed. So, generally it was quite safe to set up our camera on a tripod for a photo.

The tunnel is located near the Jeonjucheon stream that flows on the south side of the hanok village.

Nice walk by the stream, except for some insects that came out at dusk.

Nice autumn foliage on trees by the stream.

Located just above the Hanbyeokgul Tunnel is the Hanbyeokdang Pavilion. Historically, it seems that this was a popular spot for Joseon Dynasty scholars to compose poetry, paint, and contemplate the landscape.

The Hanbyeokdang Pavilion offers nice views of the landscape.

We also found the house used by the main female lead in the "Twenty-Five Twenty-One" k-drama. Google Map location here. Address is 5-19 Omokdae-gil.

House used as the home of Na-Hee-do, the main female character in the k-drama.

My wife could remember the many times the female lead Na-Hee-do (played by actress Kim Tae-ri in this drama) ran up and down these steps.

Bibimbap Dinner at Hankook Jib

Our dinner was at Hankook Jib as recommended by the hanok owner. This restaurant was actually one of the restaurants I had shortlisted for eating the bibimbap.

Bibimbap is a Korean dish with rice and various toppings including different kinds of vegetables and sometimes raw beef (yukhoe) and raw egg yolk.

We tried the Jeonju bibimbap and yukhoe bibimbap.

Yukhoe Bibimbap with raw minced beef.

Jeonju Bibimbap.

Hankook Jib also serves us 6 side dishes or banchan.

Hot Korean red pepper paste (gochujang) is added to taste. All needs to be mixed well before eating.

They both looked and tasted quite similar after mixing, which indicates that the seasoning for the raw beef was not so strong.

Since we wanted to try the local cuisine, we also ordered the moju (literally “mother's wine”) which is a Jeonju makgeolli (rice wine) with medicinal herbs like jujube, ginger and cinnamon.

The moju was served in a large bowl.

The muddy coloured moju tasted sweet, with a slightly tangy taste from the ginger and cinnamon. It was easy to drink and had a very low alcohol level, typically 1.5% or less.

After dinner, the walk back to our hanok was quite chilly. We stopped by a PNB store to briefly escape the cold and buy their famous choco-pie. PNB is supposed to be the originator of this iconic Jeonju dessert.

Classic flavour choco-pie for our breakfast the next day.

There are many flavours to choose from. We bought the classic flavour to try. The staff told us the pies must be eaten within a few days, so we did not buy them as souvenirs to bring home.

We also got to see the Jeondong Cathedral all lit up at night.

Jeondong Cathedral is located near the entrance to the Jeonju Hanok Village. The cathedral is built on the site where martyrs were executed in the Joseon Dynasty. We will learn more about the history behind this western-looking building in the traditional Korean village the next day.

Exploring Jeonju Hanok Village – Day 2

2026-01-04T22:36:00.000+08:00

15 November 2025

We started the day with a morning walk along the Jeonjucheon River that has a couple of historic structures overlooking the river. They are the Cheongyeonru Pavilion and the Namcheongyo Bridge.

Next to the river is a walking/cycling trail that is popular with the fitness-crazy locals. The sun was barely up and I could spy many Jeonju residents jogging and walking along this trail.

Sun peeping above the roof of the Cheongyeonru Pavilion, built in the middle of the Namcheongyo Bridge.

Namcheongyo Bridge is the main bridge to the south entrance of Jeonju Hanok Village.

The riverside is especially beautiful in autumn when the reeds are flowering.

There are stepping stones across the stream.

Best place to photograph the stream, bridge and pavilion is on the middle of the stepping stones.

Morning market along the Jeonju stream

We took a slow walk towards the Jeonju Nambu Market and chanced upon a morning market by the river. This street market opens for a short period from 4 AM to 10 AM in the morning and is called the ‘Dawn Goblin Market.’

Pop-up stalls lined the trail along the stream, across from Nambu Market.

I love to visit local markets as I get to see the local farm produce and what the local people enjoy buying. Fresh food from wholesale markets, fruits and vegetables grown by local farmers are traded here.

Farmer wheeling a load of large radishes to the morning market.

Garlic is a key ingredient in Korean cooking.

Persimmons are in season during autumn.

We noticed most of the sellers are elderly women.

Ginseng and other herbs.

Nambu Market

Nambu Market is the largest among Jeonju traditional markets. It has many things to see, enjoy and eat. Nambu Market was formed by the markets that stood and gathered around Pungnammun Gate, the only remaining gate among the four main gates of Jeonju that faces the four directions of the compass. The name implies that this was the southern gate.

Most people coming from the hanok village will enter Nambu Market from the market’s front gate, located next to the Pungnammun Gate. For us, we entered from the south gate facing the river.

Southern entrance to Nambu Market, facing the river.

The market is a covered market with little alleyways criss-crossing the area.

There are stalls selling woven wood basket and woven rice colander spoon, handmade cast iron cauldron, and craftsmen-style wood furniture and tableware. These are interesting to look at but not for us to buy.

Interesting to see the kitchenware and household items used in Korea.

We went to search for the famous Hyundaiok stall serving rice soup with bean sprouts or Kongnamul Gukbap, one of the Jeonju’s renowned delicacies. Jeonju is famous for its unique, flavorful bean sprouts, particularly those grown in clean local spring water. Crisp and savoury, they are the star ingredients in the city's signature dish.

The dish is consumed by the locals as a hangover soup if they drank too much soju or makgeolli the previous night.

Hyundaiok is located in a narrow alleyway but was easy to find with the help of Google map or Naver Map.

There is limited seating for around 10 people inside. We managed to get seats immediately since we came early. This popular stall will usually have a queue later in the day. We noticed people queuing outside when we left.

There are some seats at the counter where you could interact with the sellers and watch them prepare your meal.

The menu is simple. The standard Kongnamul Gukbap is 8000 KRW per bowl. The Kongnamul Gukbap uses lots and lots of super long bean sprouts. For those who want some protein with the dish, squid can be added to the dish for an additional 2000 KRW.

We ordered 2 bowls of gukbap with added diced squid. The squid added some umami and chewy texture to the dish but I would skip it if I were to eat this again. The soup was already very good without the squid.

The stall also serves up 4 side dishes or banchan that includes tiny fermented salted shrimps and 3 types of kimchi.

Each bowl of gukbap came with 2 semi-cooked eggs in a bowl. This stall was featured in a Netflix documentary on Korean food and I learnt what to do with the eggs.

The seafood soup came with half-cooked eggs and there is a recommended method to eat it here.

We added a few tablespoons of the boiling hot broth from the gukbap to the eggs to further cook it. There are packets of laver on the dining table. We also crushed some of the laver and added them to the eggs. Stir well and slurp the tasty, warm sticky mixture to warm the stomach.

Jeonju eggs, ready to eat.

Since I like to eat soft-boiled eggs, I enjoyed the eggs with added taste from the broth.

Rice is at the bottom of the gukbap.

This was my first time to try Kongnamul Gukbap or Korean beansprout soup and we loved it. It was a value for money, tasty breakfast. Highly recommended, even if we were not suffering a hangover.

Tip: My hanok host also recommended another restaurant serving this tasty dish. It is at Waeng I Kongnamul-gukbap, located just outside of the Jeonju Hanok Village.

After enjoying our breakfast, we continued a leisurely exploration of the market. We bought a pyjamas for 10,000 KRW from one of the clothing stalls.

We were tempted to buy some “ajumma” pants and tops but thankfully didn’t.

Fermented fish.

Barrels full of Saeujeot or fermented salted shrimps. A key ingredient for making kimchi.

We also walked by another restaurant that our hanok owner recommended. This restaurant serves the sundae (blood sausage) gukbap, another Jeonju delicacy. Pork offal (liver, stomach and heart), meat and sundae are boiled in an earthenware bowl and served with rice added to the soup.

Famous stall serving sundae gukbap in Nambu Market. But we were too full to eat more gukbap.

Pungnammun Gate

Leaving Nambu Market, we headed towards Jeonju Hanok Village. Located in the middle of a traffic roundabout is an impressive structure. This is Pungnammun Gate, built during the Joseon dynasty.

Pungnammun Gate with remaining sections of the fortress wall that used to surround and protect Jeonju.

It stands as the last remaining gate of the four that were once part of Jeonju's fortress walls. There is no access to the gate structure and its walled ramparts.

There are many gingko trees planted on the side of the roads leading to the gate and the area was beautiful in autumn.

Gyeonggijoen Shrine

The place we wanted to visit in the hanok village is the Gyeonggijoen Shrine. It cost 3,000 KRW per person to enter this historic site. The shrine holds the portrait of King Tae-jo, the founder of the Joseon dynasty.

Trees with colourful autumn foliage outside the Gyeonggijoen Shrine.

Best time to visit is in autumn with the autumn foliage all over the site.

We could sense a bit of bitterness in her when she explained how the shrine that was first erected in 1410 was partially destroyed during Imjin War (1592-1598). It was rebuilt and damaged again. The existing structure was rebuild again in 1614.

We walked through a series of gates to the Jeongjeon Hall (Main Hall) located at the heart of Gyeonggijeon. It is a beautiful mid-Joseon structure with a gabled roof, housing a replica of King Taejo's portrait.

Hongsalmun, leading to the hall containing the King’s Portrait.

The roof is nicely painted with figures of auspicious animals such as bats! Bats are considered lucky in Chinese and Korean culture.

The portrait of the king displayed here is a replica. Not surprising.

Jeonjusago Archives

The guide then brought the group to a small hut called the Jeonju Sago or the Jeonju History Archive. The Jeonju Sago wooden building was specially designed and constructed with raised floor to provide good ventilation and avoid dampness. It now housed copies of Joseon Wangjo Sillok (Annals of the Joseon Dynasty).

During the Joseon era, journals were kept of the king's daily activities by palace scribes. It was interesting to learn from the guide that the King is not privy to what was written in these annals so it would be unbiased.

Much information about the Joseon era are gained from these journals. It was fortunate that the journals were hidden in the nearby mountains of Naejangsan and Myohyangsan and safe from destruction during Japanese colonial days.

This Jeonju Sago building which holds the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty appears in episode 10 of “Love in the Moonlight.” k-drama.

Royal Portrait Museum

The tour ended outside the Royal Portrait Museum and we were encouraged to view the exhibits within on our own.

This museum exhibits the original portraits of Joseon kings and other relics like royal palanquins used during the enshrinement of King Taejo’s portrait in 1872.

The highlight is the portrait of King Tae-jo that was reproduced in 1872 by not 1, not 2 but 10 artists!

Portrait of King Tae-jo with him wearing the familiar blue dragon robe that we saw a lot in k-dramas. This is usually a replica, with the original shown during select periods.

The portraits of other successive kings such as Sun-jong, Cheol-jong, Yeong-jo and many others.

The museum also showcases how the portrait was moved from Seoul to Jeonju over 8 days. There was a long procession, with guards, horses and palanquins, that resembles the travel of an actual king.

The palanquin carrying the royal portrait.

A procession of King Tae-jo’s portrait made with traditional Korean paper.

The actual box containing the portrait.

Details of the travel are all documented by scribes.

There was a section showing how artists create the replica paintings. It was interesting to see that paint was applied on both sides of the canvas.

Paints and tools used to create replicas of the portraits.

Coloured paint are applied to both the front and back of the silk portrait.

There are other interesting Joseon era buildings to explore within the grounds of the Gyeonggijeon Shrine. The annex of Gyeonggijeon Shrine includes servants’ dormitory, horse barn, mill, kitchen and ritual houses.

Many visitors were dressed in hanboks and doing photoshoot between and within these buildings. Many of these buildings were actually used to film movies and dramas depicting the Joseon era, such as the drama “Love in the Moonlight.”

Lush trees and bamboo surround the structures, creating a peaceful atmosphere for exploration and photography.

The trees are extremely nice in autumn.

Bamboo grove and gate used as a backdrop in the k-drama “Love in the Moonlight.”

Lunch at Jeondong Ddeokgalbi

Leaving the shrine, we walked along the Gyeonggijeon Stone Wall Road to the Jeondong Ddeokgalbi restaurant.

Jeondong Ddeokgalbi in Jeonju is a popular spot for delicious bibimbap and traditional Korean dishes. We ordered the beef bulgogi bibimbap, tteokgalbi, and a bottle of makgeolli.

Tteokgalbi is a popular Korean dish of sweet and savory grilled short rib patties, resembling burgers. It is juicy and sweeter in seasoning.

The tteokgalbi is juicy inside and quite tasty.

The bibimbap topped with flavorful beef and vegetables.

Eight delightful side dishes, rice and a bowl of soup are included.

Changing of the Guards Ceremony

We went back to the entrance of Gyeonggijeon Shrine after lunch. We were just in time to catch the “changing of the guard” ceremony.

The guards are dresses in traditional Joseon era uniforms.

Protected by the imperial guards.

Jeonju Hanok Alley Tour

We joined the free hanok village alley tour at 3 PM. The meeting point for this tour is outside the entrance of the Gyeonggijeon Shrine.

There are roughly 700 traditional Korean homes that remain in the village today and we figured it would be good to join the tour instead of wandering around aimlessly.

Our small tour group consists of visitors from many countries. Most of them, like us, had attended the earlier 11 AM tour of the Gyeonggijeon Shrine.

The English speaking guide explained the Jeonju used to be surrounded by a stone city wall with 4 gates. Only the south gate remained and Taejo-ro road, just outside the Gyeonggijeon Shrine leading to the gate, used to be part of the city wall.

Across the street from the Gyeonggijeon Shrine is the Jeondong Catholic Church. Unfortunately, we were unable to enter on this day. Standing outside the church, our guide told us how the Catholic religion was started in Korea. Not by preachers. Instead the local people learnt about it from generic western documents from China’s Ming dynasty that had contact with western countries.

Early catholics were persecuted due to conflicts with Confucianism ancestor worship practices. The church was built on grounds where several catholic martyrs were executed, just outside the city wall. The wall is now demolished. Ironically, the stone from the walls is said to be used as material for the church.

We visited a few places of interest within the hanok village during the tour. This includes the Hagindang, a 600 year old gingko tree, pansori museum, home of last prince of Joseon and even a house with 3 flags (Korean, France and USA) flying outside.

Our guide with us outside Hagindang.

Hagindang is the oldest traditional Korean house in Jeonju Hanok Village and is now operating as a luxury guesthouse. It was used a filming location of a Korean drama series “Mr Sunshine”. Unfortunately we are not allowed to go in.

The 600 year old gingko tree is located along Eunhaeng-ro. Our guide told us to take 5 deep breaths to fill our mind with good luck, health and happiness.

Picking up a leaf from a 600 year old gingko tree located along Eunhaeng-ro.

Walking along a narrow alley to a house with 3 flags on the roof.

The house with 3 flags is known as the House of Four Doctorate Degrees.

The occupants of the house (3 sons and son-in-law) graduated with Doctorate degrees from universities in Korea, France and USA.

Some of the narrow alleyways inside the hanok village.

We also saw the home of last of
prince of Joseon. He was treated like normal man and even served in the Vietnam War (Korea sent troops to support the US forces during this war).

Seunggwangjae, the traditional Hanok in the Jeonju Hanok Village, is the house of the last prince Yi Seok.

Our tour ended near Omokdae. We then took a walk to Jeonju hyanggyo where there are many gingko trees inside.

View of Na-Hee Do’s house on the way to Jeonju Hyanggyo.

Jeonju Hyanggyo

Jeonjuhyanggyo is a Confucian school that was established during the Joseon dynasty. The school was originally located at the Gyeonggijeon Shrine site, but was relocated in 1603.

Many k-dramas were filmed in this historic site.

We came to see the many yellow gingko trees planted within. The place was quite crowded and many visitors were snapping photos of the trees, lit by the warm glow of the setting sun.

The site is popular for its 400-year-old ginkgo tree in the front yard, and is most beautiful in fall.

Plenty of gingko trees with yellow autumn leaves.

Another matured gingko tree in the courtyard.

Jeonjuhyanggyo was a good place to rest and relax till it was time for dinner.

Dinner at Gyodong Tteokgalbi

We ended our exploration of the hanok village with dinner at Gyodong Tteokgalbi. No, not another bibimbap and tteokgalbi restaurant!

Actually, we wanted to eat at Monsieur Patate, a pizza restaurant. It was full-house by the time we got there. So, we did some research and chose to go to Gyodong Tteokgalbi based on its good reviews.

By now, we had our fill of bibimbap. We ordered their signature tteokgalbi that was quite delicious.

Set of Tteokgalbi for 2 that came with side dishes, soup and rice.

After dinner, we went back to our hanok and received a pleasant surprise. The hanok owner, knowing we are leaving Jeonju very early the next morning, left us some goodies in a little basket as a parting gift.

Day trip to Damyang Bamboo Garden (Juknokwon) from Gwangju

2026-01-02T22:43:00.000+08:00

16 November 2025

Having experienced the crowds at Japan’s Arashiyama Bamboo Forest, a chance to visit Korea’s massive bamboo forest without the crowds is not to be missed. Juknokwon (namely Bamboo Garden) is the most famous bamboo forest in South Korea and is certainly worth a visit.

Unlike the natural bamboo forest in Arashiyama, Juknokwon is a cultivated bamboo forest that is 310,000 square meters in size and was opened in 2005. Within the dense bamboo forest, there are many walking trails for those looking to enjoy peaceful walks close to nature and snapping photos without the crowds.

Located in Damyang, the Bamboo Garden is best accessed from the city of Gwangju by bus. The local bus 311 from Gwangju goes right to the entrance of the garden but the journey will take about an hour.

We planned to stay a couple of nights in Gwangju after visiting Jeonju. We left Jeonju Hanok Village early in the morning and caught the 8.10 AM express bus from Jeonju’s express bus terminal to Gwangju’s bus terminal.

Gwangju Bus Terminal, also known as U-Square, is Gwangju's main, modern transportation hub combining a large express bus terminal with extensive shopping, dining and entertainment. We left our luggage in the storage lockers within the bus terminal, planning to collect them after our day trip to Damyang. There were sufficient storage lockers for our 2 medium size suitcases.

The bus stop for the local bus 311 to Damyang is right outside U Square. This rather long bus stop serves many local buses, so we had to wait at the correct place. The signage was pretty clear. We saw several other tourists waiting for the same bus.

Unlike other local buses where we just tap our T-money card on the card readers when we board and alight, the grumpy driver demanded to know our destination when we boarded the bus so he could deduct the correct fare. I don’t speak Korean but fortunately, I know the name of the bamboo garden is called “Juk-nok-won” in Korean, so we were alright. The fare was 3700 KRW and I was extremely glad that our T-money cards, last used in 2014, still work!

Tip: If you don’t speak Korean, show the driver the printed name of Juknokwon (죽녹원).

We managed to get seats for the hour long bus ride. Bus 311 is a local bus that made many stops along the journey (including a stop at the Damyang Intercity Bus Terminal) but it took us right to the entrance of Juknokwon.

This was what we saw once we alighted from the bus. The Juknokwon is right across the road.

Since it was lunch time when we arrived, we decided to take our lunch first. We reckoned it would take us a couple of hours to explore the massive bamboo garden so it is better to fill our tummy first.

There are many restaurants next to the river that flowed on the south side of Juknokwon. Damyang is famous for its noodle dishes, evident by the fact that they have an entire street dedicated to it called Noodle Street.

We went to the nearest restaurant and had a simple lunch consisting of noodles and 2 hard boiled “herbal” eggs that had little or no herbal flavour.

Noodles in anchovy broth.

Soy sauce bibim noodles.

The noodles, while tasty, have no meat protein in them. On hindsight, we should have ordered the set which came with some grilled fish or pork for 3000 KRW more per person. In any case, we enjoyed our simple lunch in this clean restaurant located by the river.

This bamboo forest is open all year round. Autumn is a nice time to visit as it is cooler and less humid.

Gate to the Juknokwon. Entrance fee is 3000 KRW per adult and is sold near the entrance.

The Bonghwangru pavilion that we saw from the bus-stop is located near the entrance.

Upon entry, we went to the Bonghwangru pavilion. There are maps showing the walking trails within the bamboo garden and also other attractions in Damyang such as the Metasequoia Road and Gwanbangjerim Forest.

There are 8 themed trails with fancy names such as the Good Luck Road, Meditation Road and Lover’s Lane. The trails intersected each other at various places so we could actually just wander in the general direction to the far end of the garden and then make our way back to entrance using other routes.

Plenty of shade with the bamboo forest.

Sign posts were frequently seen highlighting the many Korean movies and dramas filmed within the site.

There are pavilions, hammocks and lounge chairs made from bamboo along the trails.

There are many visitors on this weekend but the forest is massive. So it was easy to wait a while to get photos without the crowds.

There are interesting things to see and do along the trails. A device to test our age, based on the size of your tummy.

Bamboo is the main food for the pandas. So, some pandas were seen in the forest.

There is even a local legend to learn at the bamboo forest.

Story board explaining the legend of the King with donkey ears.

According to legend, King Gyeongmun of the Silla was born with hideously large ears, like those of donkeys. He was forced to hide them under his hair and the only person who knew was his barber.

The barber was frustrated that he had to keep this secret. One day, he could not take it any more. He went to a bamboo forest and shouted out the secret “the king has donkey ears”, thinking no one will hear him. However, the wind carried the sound and spread the secret far and wide.

The story ended on a positive note that the king became a good listener to the concerns of his people and ruled his country well.

Say what you want to the king with donkey ears.

We took a break at a cafe located in a clearing. Besides hot coffee to go with our Snickers bar, we ordered a bamboo-flavoured ice-cream.

Bamboo-flavoured ice cream. Thick, creamy with mild taste of sugar cane and not too sweet.

Overall, we had about 2.5 hours of fun exploring the trails and taking lots of photos within the bamboo forest.

Our day in Damyang was not just about visiting Juknokwon and trying their noodles. Just a few kilometers walk away from Juknokwon is the Damyang Metasequoia-lined Road. More about our visit to Damyang’s Metasequoia-lined Road in the next post.

A walk down a Metasequoia-lined Road in Damyang

2025-12-30T22:35:00.000+08:00

16 November 2025

We made a day trip from Gwangju to Damyang to explore the famous Bamboo Forest (Juknokwon). Thereafter, we went to see the Metasequoia-lined Road, located about 2 km away.

What is the Metasequioa-lined Road?

As the name implies, the Metasequoia-lined Road is a 8.5 km boulevard with towering metasequoia trees planted on both sides. The canopy of the trees form a nice “tunnel” if you walk down the road. It is especially beautiful in autumn when the leaves of the trees turned golden and crimson in the afternoon sun.

Metasequoia-line Road lined with giant metasequoia trees.

Getting to the Metasequoia-lined Road from Juknokwon

There is a very beautiful park called the Gwanbangjerim Forest located in between Juknokwon and the Metasequoia-lined Road. So walking there from Juknokwon was part of the fun.

The route we took was along the banks of Damyangcheon Stream. We crossed this stream located on the south side of the Juknokwon. Although there was a vehicular bridge over the stream, it was more fun and physically less exhausting to walk across the stream via one of the many “stepping stones” walkway.

Crossing the slow flowing stream just outside the Juknokwon.

The walk to our destination was very nice on this warm autumn afternoon. The landscape in the Gwanbangerim Forest was very photogenic, with the autumn foliage of the trees reflecting from the still water of the stream.

Another “stepping stones” bridge further downstream. Families with babies, the young and elderly and even pet dogs were crossing the stream using the stepping stones.

The vehicular bridge and Juknokwon could be seen in the background.

Even before reaching the Metasequoia-lined Road, we could see many metasequoia trees on the banks of the Damyangcheon Stream.

As this was a Sunday with a pleasantly warm autumn weather, many local families were out in force. We could see kids on trikes and babies in strollers. Some families with no kids brought their little pet dogs in the strollers too!

Nice shady path along the banks of the Damyangcheon Stream.

The golden and brown autumn foliage was especially striking when lit by the late afternoon sun.

We could either walk on the paved road along the stream or on an elevated pathway.

After walking about 2 km through the forest, we came to traffic junction. Right across is the Meta Provence, located right next to Damyang Metasequoia-lined Road.

Meta Provence is a small village with pastel houses and cafes that supposedly resembles the French town of Provence. We did not have time to explore this place. We headed straight to what we came for.

The Metasequoia-lined Road.

The road used to be National Road No. 24 and was one of the most popular driving routes in Korea. It became pedestrian walking path after a new highway was constructed next to it.

A small entry fee of 2000 KRW per person is payable to walk on this road and access the park with a pond.

Map showing the metasequoia-lined road, Meta Provence and Damyangcheon Stream.

The Metasequoia-lined Road on this day was full of people. My hopes of taking natural photos of the road with its majestic trees were dashed. Besides the many people on the road, there are Christmas decorations strung between the trees.

Christmas decorations on the trees.

We took a stroll down the road, enjoying the vibes. About halfway down the road, we came across the pond with some of the most striking views. My disappointment of this place turned into delight.

We joined the many people snapping photos of the golden trees reflected on the mirror-like pond.

Walking around the pond with the beautifully lit trees was the highlight of our visit to the Metasequoia-lined Road. There were plenty of photo opportunities around the area.

Enjoying the views and warm of the autumn sun.

There are less people further down the road and I managed to get a photo of the road without the people.

Getting back to Gwangju from Damyang

To return to Gwangju, we had to walk back to Juknokwon to catch the local bus No. 311. On the return trip from Damyang, the bus would not stop directly outside the Gwangju U-square Bus Terminal.

When we boarded the bus, the bus driver asked for our destination so he could deduct the appropriate fare from our T-money card. I told him “Shin-se-gae” which is the name of the bus-stop outside the Shinsegae Department Store in Gwangju. This prominent department store is located next to U-Square bus terminal.

Like before, the journey on the local bus took over an hour. It was dark when we arrived at Gwangju. We collected our luggage from the lockers at the bus terminal and took a taxi to the Gwangju Madrid Hotel. I chose this hotel which is located within walking distance from the Gwangju Seongjeong KTX Station since we would travelling by KTX (South Korea’s High Speed Rail) on the next 2 days for a day trip to Naejangsan National Park and then to Seoul.

Yang-kochi (Lamb Skewers) dinner at Gwangju’s Jangbaesan Restaurant

2025-12-28T20:19:00.000+08:00

16 November 2025

We had chosen to stay near the Gwangju Seongjeong Station in Gwangju and there are many eating places near the train station and our hotel.

I have tried Korea barbeque many times with pork and beef. I recently learned that Koreans also have a unique culture of grilling seasoned lamb skewers over charcoal. This dish is called Yang-kochi (Grilled Lamb Skewers) has a history rooted in Chinese cuisine that was later adopted and popularized in South Korea as a staple "Korean-Chinese" dish.

For our first evening in Gwangju, we went to check out a Chinese restaurant named Jangbaesan that serves Yang-kochi. The large signboard of the restaurant has 3 Chinese characters 長白山 which translate as “Long White Mountain”. Google Map location here.

This restaurant offers a variety of Chinese food but the main highlight is their grilled meat, especially yangkochi.

The staff does not speak English but we had Google Translate to help us. Orders are made via a tablet that shows pictures of the menu items. There was no indication of the quantity of skewers with each portion on the tablet. Based on the pictures, we ordered 3 different cuts of lamb skewers since the portion seems to be about 6 skewers per order. We were pleasantly surprised when our food was delivered.

Each portion came with 10 skewers. So between the two of us, we had a total of 30 skewers to finish!

The lamb was seasoned with spices.

Automatic Grilling System

The most interesting thing about the yangkochi is the automatic, self-rotating grills, which allow diners to cook the skewers easily at the table.

Automated grilling system.

The grill has a moving gear system with slots that moved sideways - from left to right and then back. We simply place the star-shaped gear in each skewer into the slot, and the machine automatically rotates the skewers over the charcoal fire.

It was so fun to watch our skewers getting cooked while we were also eating the earlier batch.

There is also a suction device above the grill which sucks up the greasy smoke.

The lamb skewers were plump and juicy if we did not over-cooked them. Some spices were provided on a plate as a dip for the cooked meat.

Some of the cuts were chewy while some were tender. Combined, they offered a slight variation in taste and texture and were simply delicious. There was a little gamey smell that was just right for me. The best drink to go with the grilled meat is cold beer.

We also ordered a plate of fried rice for the “carbo” content. The rice was nicely fried and fragrant. Thumbs up to the chef.

Overall, it was the first time we tried yangkochi in Korea and we loved it. We finished all 30 skewers!

Day trip to Naejangsan National Park in autumn

2025-12-25T21:32:00.000+08:00

17 November 2025

Naejangsan National Park is highly raved as one of the best mountains to see the autumn foliage in South Korea. The peak autumn foliage is supposed to be in the first two weeks of November. With global warming, the peak period could shift slightly later. Since we are visiting in mid-November, we were just in time and it was an excellent opportunity that we must not miss.

Naejangsan is also known for its many hiking trails that lead to its 8 summits. Almost a million people come every year for its breathtaking views. It is especially crowded during the peak autumn foliage season. Hence it is advisable to visit this place on a weekday and arrive before 9 AM. For us who are relying on public transport, it is also advisable to leave before 4.30 PM as there is known to be long queues for the local bus in the late evening.

Getting to Naejangsan from Gwangju

Naejangsan National Park is located near Jeongeup, a city in North Jeolla Province. We made a daytrip to Naejangsan from Gwangju. The fastest way from Gwangju to Jeongeup is to take the KTX (Korea’s high speed train) from the Gwangju SeongJeong Station.

It is advisable to arrive early so we had an early start from Gwangju. We enjoyed a hearty bowl of boiling hot gukbap at the popular Yeongmyeong Gukbap shop located opposite the train station. The store opens at 5 AM and is an ideal place to try the famous Korean’s gukbap (rice soup).

At 6.30 AM in the morning, we were the first few customers, in addition to a group of servicemen in uniform. Based on google reviews, we ordered the assorted gukbap that came with cuts of tender pork head meat, pig stomach, liver, bean sprouts and sundae in a boiling pot of rich savoury broth. There is also a bowl of rice and side dishes provided.

Highly recommended gukbap for 11,000 KWR - assorted soup with sundae, pork and organs.

Side dishes or banchan that is included with the gukbap. The includes pickled garlic, kimchi, salted shrimps and white onions.

After the body-warming breakfast, we had plenty of time to catch the 7.40 AM train to Jeongeup. We had booked our tickets in advance using this online ticketing site. There was no checking of train tickets during boarding. However the inspector would walk through the cabin once the train started moving. Journey from Gwangju to Jeongeup by KTX took about 20 minutes.

From Jeongeup Station, we took the local bus No. 171 to Naejangsan National Park. Getting to the bus stop was easy. It was located across the road from Jeongeup Station and there were many people in hiking gear heading there. The frequency of Bus 171 was about 20 to 30 minutes. We were concerned to see many people waiting at bus stop. There was a big group of hikers with daypacks and hiking poles.

An alternative to bus transport was taxi. It would definitely be more expensive (about 18,000 to 20,000 KRW) but would be a viable option if we could not get onto the bus.

Some taxis came to offer their services. I was glad to see the group of hikers went for the taxis.

Shortly thereafter, bus 171 arrived. There was an orderly queue to board the bus. Despite the many people at this bus stop, we managed to board but it was standing room only. The journey took about 30 minutes and cost about 1,200 KRW. We just need to tap the T-money card on the machine when boarding and disembarking from the bus to pay for the fare.

It was about 9 AM when we alighted at the small town beside the Naejangsan National Park. We took a photo of the bus schedule for the bus back to Jeongeup. Bus 171 is a loop service. We will need to come back to this bus station to take the bus back to Jeongeup.

From there, we just need to follow the main street for about 10 minutes to get to the entrance of the park. I was glad to see colourful foliage on the trees lining the road.

A prelude of what is to come – many trees with red and yellow foliage.

The weather on this day was unusually cold due to what is known as a polar vortex, sending cold air from the arctic southward. In fact, the cold spell would starting on this day which was a Monday and continue till Thursday.

4 degrees C in autumn but the down jacket and windbreaker was effective.

To walk or take the shuttle?

We paid the national park fee of 3000 KRW per person at the entrance of the park. Local residents get free entry. Once past the entrance, there was still a 2 km walk to the center of the park. There was shuttle service for 1000 KRW per person.

Actually, I have read that this 2 km path is one of the best places to enjoy the autumn leaves in Naejangsan. We would have to walk this path either on the way in or do it on our way back.

Since there was no queue, we decided to take the shuttle on our way in.

View of the maple tree “tunnel” from inside the shuttle.

We could see that the road is lined with colourful trees on both sides.

Maple trees with foliage lit by the morning sun.

On hindsight, we should have walked this path on our way in and also on our way out!

Uhwajeong Pavilion

The first attraction we visited was the Uhwajeong Pavilion. It is uniquely placed in the centre of a lake. I had seen picture-postcard views of the pavilion surrounded by fantastic autumn foliage. Although there are still plenty of colourful autumn foliage around, I could not get a decent photo that matched what I saw.

Uhwajeong Pavilion.

Red, orange, yellow and green leaves on the trees.

Naejangsan Cable Car to Yeonjabong Peak

There is an easy way to get to one of mountain peaks in Naejangsan National Park with minimal hiking. That is by taking the Naejangsan Cable Car to Yeonjabong Peak. The cable car station is located near to the Uhwajeong Pavilion.

We made it a point to take the Naejangsan cable car as early as possible, before the massive crowds arrive later in the day.

As per plan, we came early on a weekday and hence there was no queues at the ticket booth and also at the cable car station. We bought the 2-way tickets for 11,000 KRW per person. One-way tickets are also available for those who chose to hike up or down the peak.

The cable car has a rather large capacity, similar to those we had taken in Mount Seorak.

Short queue to board the cable car.

The journey takes approximately 5 minutes, allowing for panoramic views of the national park. I was lucky to stand next to the window and could enjoy the colourful canopy of the forest below.

Shadow of the cable car cast upon the colourful forest below.

From the cable car station at the top, we walked about 300 metres to the Yeonjabong Peak Observatory. The uneven path to the observatory is on a ridge and it was quite windy. We saw a monk positioned midway on this path, chanting and blessing safe passage for travelers and hikers.

Short 300 m hiking path leading to Yeonjabong Peak Observatory.

The Yeonjabong Peak Observatory is a two-story pavilion. From the second storey, we enjoyed 360 degress panoramic view of 8 mountain peaks (Yeonjibong, Manghaebong, Bulchulbong, Seoraebong, Woryeongbong, Gachibong, Sinseongbong and Janggunbong). We could also see the red, yellow and orange autumn foliage adorning the mountain sides and the valley below. Unfortunately, the morning air was a little misty which muted the colour of the autumn leaves in our photos.

Naejangsan Mountain View from the observatory - Woryeongbong Peak and Seoraebong Peak.

Close up photo of Byeoknyeonam Hermitgage as viewed from the observatory.

The valley beneath Yeonjabong Peak and surrounding mountains.

The cable car station and the lake with Uhwajeong Pavilion could be seen.

It was quite cold and windy up on the mountain. Thankfully there are stalls offering food and drinks near the observatory and also at the cable car station. We took refuge in a coffee shop and had hot drinks before heading back to the cable car station.

A cup of hot coffee from a shop near the observatory.

Back at the cable car station, we went to check out the views from the roof.

Back at the cable car station.

Enjoying the sight of the autumn leaves at the cable car station.

A hiking trail that leads to the actual Yeonjabong summit starts at the cable car station. The information board stated the distance is only 700m but there is an elevation gain of about 275m. We were tempted to go but decided against it. We came to Naejangsan for the autumn leaves, not for hiking on this trip.

At the start of the trail to Yeonjabong peak.

For those who bought the one-way tickets, there is also a hiking trail that leads back down. Hiking down may seem easy, but I think the trail is quite steep and uneven.

We saw a tree full of ripe persimmons at the bottom cable car station.

Maple Tree Trail to Naejangsa Temple

Back down to the valley, we took the trail to the Buddhist temple named Naejangsa. The flat 500 m trail to Naejangsa was so beautiful during the autumn leaves season. I love the combination of red, orange, yellow and green leaves.

Many leaves had fallen but there are still plenty above us.

Naejangsa Temple

Naejangsa was bustling with visitors, both locals and tourists alike, who had come to admire the stunning colors of the surrounding trees.

Originally founded in 636 A.D. during the Baekje Dynasty, the temple were destroyed during foreign invasions of Korea and the Korean War. Most of the structures standing today were reconstructed later.

We spend some time in the area just outside the temple complex as it was so pretty with yellow gingko, red maple and even a small pond. This was the place for us to have a little snack (Snickers bar again!) and drink before heading into the temple complex.

Taking a rest on one of the benches at the entrance.

Outside the gate to the temple complex.

Many people were enjoying a photo-shoot on the many benches beneath a large gingko tree.

Our “lunch”.

Start of hiking trail to Yeonjabong Peak Observatory. Don’t be fooled by the signage. It says 0.8 km to the observatory but it is steep uphill trek all the way with elevation gain of about 185 m.

The buildings in the temple complex were quite spaced out. Even with the large number of visitors, there were plenty of space and peacefulness.

One of the buildings stood out prominently. This was the main hall that was newly reconstructed after the old one was destroyed in a suspected arson attack in 2021.

Newly re-constructed main hall at Naejangsa.

The temple was bare of paint and I think it would look fantastic once it is fully painted like the rest of the buildings in this complex.

Enjoying the surroundings at Naejangsan National Park

We had a lot of time to take more photos and appreciate the beautiful surroundings in the national park before heading back out.

Walking back to the visitor center.

Trying out the exercise equipment in the park. They are so similar to the ones back home.

Walking back from Naejangsa Temple to the entrance

Instead of taking the shuttle bus, we walked down the maple tree “tunnel” to the town. There are many photo opportunities along this trail.

Fallen leaves on moss in the stream next to the trail.

Waited for the shuttle bus to appear in my photo.

Maple tree “tunnel”.

From Naejangsan to Gwangju

Since we left relatively early, we managed to get seats on bus 171 back to Jeongeup Station. We alighted at the same bus stop that we took the bus from in the morning.

From Jeongeup Station, we bought the tickets for the 3 PM KTX train back to Gwangju Seongjeong Station from the ticket counter.

We were quite famished by the time we arrived at Gwangju. The Isaac Toast & Coffee branch at the Seongjeong Station serves good food.

Tea break at Isaac Toast located inside Gwangju Seongjeong Station.

Overall, our day trip to Naejangsan National Park went accordingly to plan. Although we were a a little late to enjoy the peak, the views of the autumn leaves at this park were still magnificent. And we were not hampered by any crowds by going on a weekday and arriving early.

Tteokgalbi - Must eat food at Gwangju

2025-12-23T10:20:00.000+08:00

17 November 2025

Gwangju, located in South Korea's Jeolla region, is a renowned culinary hotspot known for rich, flavorful, and varied dishes. One of their signature local delicacies is the tteokgalbi (grilled minced beef or pork short rib patties).

The best place to try this dish while visiting Gwangju is at the Tteokgalbi Street in Gwangju Songjeong-dong. This area is renowned for having around 20 restaurants specializing in this traditional grilled dish and our hotel in Gwangju (Gwangju Madrid Hotel) is just a few minutes walk to the street!

We had already sampled tteokgalbi during our stay in Jeonju Hanok Village but we have to try this dish at its place of origin. The tteokgalbi here stands out from tteokgalbi found in other regions in a few ways. Most places use 100% beef in the patties, but Songjeong-dong tteokgalbi uses a mix of beef and pork. This change was made in the 90s in order to keep the prices the same during a tough financial season. The restaurants here also serve a pork bone soup with the meal, made from boiling pork bones with kelp and radish for over a long period of time.

After checking the reviews of the various restaurants on this street, we chose to go a restaurant called Songjeong Tteokgalbi (Google Map location here). Established in 1976, this could be one of the pioneers of this dish.

There is often a queue to enter this popular restaurant but there was no queue when we arrived. Probably there are lesser people dining out on a weekday.

The restaurant is very spacious and clean. The restaurant has many traditional Korean style dining tables with low tables and futons. Thankfully, we were shown to a Western-style table that is easier on our legs.

Tteokgalbi is their main dish but the menu also offered bibimbap and other Korean dishes.

We came for the tteokgalbi and ordered one with special Korean beef and one with a combo of beef and pork.

The beef tteokgalbi is the one on the right and is darker in colour.

While the beef tteokgalbi is tasty, we found it a bit too dry. The pork and beef combo was juicier and tasted better. This is one instant where food with cheaper ingredients tasted better than the one with more expensive ingredient.

This restaurant is known to serve many side dishes (banchan) with the beef patties. We were provided with more banchan than the tteokgalbi restaurants in Jeonju.

There are 8 side dishes, plus a bowl of pork bone soup, steamed rice and items (garlic, gochujang, green chilli pepper) for ssam.

There are 8 side dishes, plus a bowl of pork bone soup, rice and Korean ssam.

The tteokgalbi was incredibly tender and delicious. It goes well with rice and also with the side dishes. But it is also fun to eat tteokgalbi wrapped in lettuce.

A highlight of dining here is the complimentary pork bone broth. The broth is so flavourful, a result of simmering pork bones and radish for hours.

Meaty pork bone in delicious broth. This is served as part of the tteokgalbi meal.

The lady staff is friendly. She offered to top up the side dishes after we finished some of them. We told them we would like to have more soup and she brought a larger bowl of hot pork bone broth with a ladle for us to refill as much as we want.

The staff brought us a large bowl of pork bone soup with more meaty bones. She also refilled the banchan that we loved the most.

Happy diner.

After paying for our dinner, we were offered free Yakult (Japanese-originated probiotic cultured milk drink). There is also an ice cream and coffee machine at the entrance.

We made ourselves a cup of hot coffee to enjoy on our slow walk back to our hotel.

Travel to Seoul and shopping & eating in Myeongdong

2025-12-08T23:19:00.000+08:00

18 November 2025

The plan for the day is to travel from Gwangju to Seoul by KTX (South Korea’s High Speed Train) in the morning and spend the afternoon in Myeongdong. Myeongdong is a famous shopping district in the heart of Seoul, known for its dense concentration of Korean cosmetics, fashion brands, restaurants and vibrant street food. My original plan was to go explore the Daehak-ro and Naksan area in the afternoon but Seoul was experiencing an unusual cold spell on this day. I thought Naksan, being at higher elevation would be cold, so our plan changed.

Where we stayed in Seoul

Our hotel in Seoul for the next 3 nights is the Ibis Ambassador Myeongdong. We chose this hotel because it is located close to bus stops along Namdaemun-ro, Euljiro 1-ga (Line 2) subway station and the bus stop for the limousine bus to the airport is just at its doorstep!

Travel from Gwangju to Seoul

The journey by KTX took about 2 hours. Once again, I booked our tickets online from the Korail website.

There are two KTX stations serving Seoul City – Yongsan Station and Seoul Station. We chose to take the KTX to Seoul Station since it is closer to our hotel.

It was close to noon when we arrived in Seoul. From Seoul Station, we queued and boarded a taxi for a short ride to our hotel. Since we are too early for check-in, the hotel staff stored our luggage and we went out to have lunch and explore Myeongdong.

Lunch at

Sinseon Seolleongtang(Myeongdong Branch)

Sinseon Seolleongtang is a popular restaurant chain found all over Korea serving up tasty bowls of ox bone soup known as seolleongtang.

My wife and I had our first taste of this dish in 2012 after the restaurant was featured in a SBS korean drama called “Brilliant Legacy” and we went to hunt for the restaurant. Since then, we always wanted to taste this dish again and we found that there is a branch located in Myeongdong.

This picture was from my visit to another branch in 2012. Brochure from the restaurant featuring the menu and actor/actress from the K-drama “Brilliant Legacy”.

The Myeongdong branch was located on the 2nd floor of a building but is was not difficult to find. The menu was displayed on the ground floor. It was pretty much similar to before but the price had risen quite a bit. Inflation everywhere!

The menu features a variety of different types of seolleongtang besides the standard seolleongtang. Price now is 11,000 KRW for the standard soup. It used to be 7,000 KRW in 2012.

We ordered one standard shaved beef seolleongtang and one Myeongpum Galbi (beef rib) seolleongtang.

Seolleongtang with meaty beef ribs.

The rich and creamy white broth is the result of many hours of boiling ox bone. This dish is extremely nice on a cold day. The dish came with a bowl of steamed rice that we could add to the soup. There were also kimchi and radish that we could help ourselves to.

It is good that there are guides on how to enjoy this dish.

It is quite common to find a pair of scissors provided on the table, plus other utensils – Korean metal chopsticks and long handle soup.

Do as the Koreans do. Use the scissors to cut up your food to bite size chunks.

Craving on ox-bone soup satisfied, we went to do some shopping.

Shopping at Myeongdong

The first stop we made was at the Olive Young cosmetic store located opposite the restaurant. There are many Olive Young stores in Korea nowadays and there are several even within Myeongdong itself. The store was packed with shoppers from abroad. This is a sign that Korea’s beauty products are top notched and highly sought after internationally.

This was one of the many items in my wife’s shopping list. Many items in the list are for friends and relatives.

The Olive Young store provides duty free shopping. Shoppers need to show their passports to claim the tax refund. We went back to our hotel to check in and dump the heavy bags of cosmetic we bought.

From our hotel, we went into the underground shopping mall and up to Lotte Departmental Store located right across Namdaemun-ro. We bought some Korean snacks, Kanu freeze-dry coffee at Lotte Mart. We were also looking out for toys for our grandchildren but this is the wrong place to shop for toys.

Returning to Myeongdong, we wandered into any stores that caught our fancy.

One store not to miss is the HBAF store. HBAF stands for Honey Butter Almond & Friends and is the largest nut brand in Korea. Besides the classic honey butter almonds, there are now plenty of other flavours to choose from.

We also walked up and down a 12-storey Daiso store with an elevator that is practically not fit for purpose (too small and slow). Although it is a 12 storey building, the store is not big as area of each floor is quite small. We managed to buy a toy car on one of the floors but otherwise, I did not enjoy my visit to this store. I am not sure why this store is so popular and crowded.

We also bought more Korean snacks and souvenirs to bring home from the local stores. There are also cafes aplenty.

Dinner at Hanam Pig BBQ, Myeongdong Branch

Myeongdong really become more vibrant when evening came and the street food vendors popped up like magic. Although there are plenty of tempting street food in Myeongdong, I have learnt to stay away from them.

For our dinner, we chose to have pork BBQ at the Hanam Pig House. Hanam Pig House is a popular Korean BBQ chain specializing in premium, grilled pork (pork belly, shoulder loin, ribs). Being a chain restaurant loved by the locals, the quality may not be the best in town but it would be value for money and the food and service would be more consistent.

Entrance of the Hanam Pig House Restaurant with its large, red logo in Chinese “ Chang”.

The restaurant only serves pork. We ordered the samgyeopsal (pork belly) and one other cut. The staff did the cooking for us on a hotplate.

The Samgyeopsal (Pork belly) is cooked on a hotplate in front of us.

The chef would use a scissor to cut the meat into bite sizes chunks.

Aprons are provided to protect our clothes from oil splatter but there is no air suction device above the hotplate. Our clothes would have the oily smell thereafter.

I was a little surprised when the chef BBQ the kimchi cabbage.

Side dishes are provided. We are to wrap the BBQ pork in the lettuce leaf with garlic, add some gochujang before popping the parcel into our mouth.

We also ordered a Doenjang-jjigae (Fermented soybean paste stew) and a Gyeranjjim (steamed egg custard).

Doenjang jjigae (Fermented soybean paste stew)

Steamed egg custard with some roe in it.

Overall Hanam Pig House serves delicious pork BBQ and other dishes. We enjoyed our pork BBQ dinner in Seoul but I still prefer the Black Pig BBQ I had in Jeju that was cooked over a charcoal fire.

Autumn morning at Seoul Forest and afternoon at Seongsu-dong and COEX Mall

2025-12-05T15:06:00.000+08:00

19 November 2025

Seoul Forest Park is known for cherry blossoms in spring, lush greenery in summer, and ginkgo trees in autumn. The park is located in the Seongdong-gu area, best known for the trendy Seongsu-dong area, often called the "Brooklyn of Seoul," which blends industrial, repurposed warehouses with chic cafes, pop-up stores, and street art.

We plan to spend about 2 hours just walking about the park in the early morning before visiting Seongsu-dong when the shops and cafes open after 11 AM.

Seoul Forest was originally old royal hunting ground and then a water treatment facility before it was transformed into a city park in 2005. It is quite massive at about 500,000 square-meters and is divided into five areas, including a Culture and Arts Park, Ecological Forest (with deer), Wetland Ecological Garden and Hangang River Park. We planned to see only a few key highlights.

As the cafes around Seoul Forest Park do not open before 10 AM, we had a light breakfast of coffee and toast at Ediya Coffee near our hotel in Myeongdong.

From Myeongdong, we took the subway to the Seoul Forest Station. One of the largest K-Pop companies SM Entertainment’s main headquarters is located near Seoul Forest Station, Exit 5. Those interested in buying K-pop souvenirs like albums, light-sticks, and various artist-themed goods can buy them at the popular SMTOWN &STORE (formerly KWANGYA). The store opens at 10.30 AM so we gave it a miss.

Seoul Forest was right across from the subway station. The first area we went to was the Cultural and Arts Park. This is the main area of the Seoul forest located at the main entrance of the park. We saw a group of locals on a company outing next to an impressive sculpture representing horse racing. We could not go beyond that since there was some maintenance work going on and the area around the famed mirror pond with the Metasequoia Forest was not accessible.

I wanted to see the deer at the Ecological Forest so we headed in that general direction. There were few people around on a weekday morning. The temperature on this day is lower than usual but the morning walk was comfortable and pleasant since there was no wind under the clear autumn sky.

There are some red maple trees but after our visit to the fantastic Naejangsan National Park earlier, the views of red maple trees had lost the wow factor. Nevertheless, they are still a pretty sight.

Trees with red and yellow autumn foliage in Seoul Forest.

We had to walk under a vehicular bridge to get to the deer corral at the Ecological Park which is located at the far corner of Seoul Forest Park.

Two species of deer were kept here. Both are local to Korea. Their ancestors were hunted by the royals in the long ago era at this area but these deer in the corral enjoy a peaceful life.

The deer corral has many deer. The deer enjoy a pretty big enclosure and they are well maintained. There is practically no smell of animal dung.

A sign indicated that there are two species of deer kept here. Both are local to Korea.

One of the highlights of Seoul Forest.

Many deer relaxing in the corral.

We could see them up close.

We could walk on a bridge to see the deer from above. The bridge also took us through a habitat designed for wild animals and plants.

An overhead footbridge took us over the deer enclosure for even better views without the fences.

The pedestrian bridge also leads to a park next to Hangang River. We saw some wetlands below the bridge. We saw a lady photographer trying to photograph some birds above the wetlands so we went past her quietly.

On the way to the Hangang Riverside Park.

The pedestrian bridge to Hangang Riverside Park offers beautiful views of the Hangang River and Seoul City skyline.

Views of the highway next to Hangang River and fancy apartments. We could see Lotte World Tower in the opposite direction.

Preview of Hangang Riverside Park from the bridge.

Hangang River and one of the many bridges spanning across it.

It is nice to sit under the warm autumn sun and watch the locals enjoying a ride or walk by the river.

The last “attraction” we visited in Seoul Forest Park is the gingko forest which is best experienced in autumn.

We came at a time that is slightly past the peak so most of the yellow gingko leaves were on the forest floor. The forest floor carpeted with yellow gingko leaves was still a slight to behold.

It was about 11.30 AM when we left Seoul Forest. We made a stop at Lowide Coffee Bakery, located near Seoul Forest. This popular local bakery and cafe offers a selection of finely crafted bakery items along with a quality cup of coffee.

Signature items include the salt bread and a variety of croissant, tarts, scones, brownies, and cookies.

Egg Salt Bread Sandwich and croissant with a cup of coffee to share.

After the coffee break, we were ready to continue our exploration of Seongsu-dong.

We tried the pies at Ho Gwa Dang Tiger Pie House. Their taco pies are made from premium French butter and came with a savoury filling made using Korean pork, fresh tomatoes, potato, rich cheese and crispy nachos.

The freshly baked pie had a flaky French-style crust and very hot fillings. Despite the friendly warning from the owner of the pie shop, I burned my lips at the first bite.

Our takeaway taco pie from Ho Gwa Dang. The store with the Chinese Characters 虎菓堂 is in the background.

A peek inside the hot, yummy pie.

After finishing our pie, we went to check out the local branded handbags in the Samo Ondoh Flagship store, just a few metres down the same street.

We then took a stroll to Yeonmujang-gil. This area used to be an industrial area with factories and warehouses. The old shoe factories and warehouses had been repurposed into hip cafes, fashion pop-ups, and galleries. The vibrant, trendy street hosts many flagship stores from brands like Adidas, Dior and also pop-up stores like the K-pop Demon Hunter pop-up store.

For lunch, I had shortlisted a few restaurants which included Damsot Seongsu, Solsot and Somunnan Seongsu Gamjatang.

We saw long queues outside Somunnan Seongsu Gamjatang so we went to search for Damsot Seongsu, a cosy eatery renowned for its comforting Korean rice bowls. A sign indicated that the store had shifted to a nearby location and we could not find the new store. It is probably still under renovation. Went to the Solsot, another place offering similar rice bowls. There was a long queue and seems like reservations have to be made using a local booking app that requires a local phone number. Hm… a good way to turn away foreign customers.

We went back to Somunnan Seongsu Gamjatang (Pork Bone Soup) and sat on a bench to wait for our table. The queue moved fast and we waited only about 15 minutes before a staff came out and brought us, plus some others, to a nearby shop which is an extension of the main store.

This place serves only gamjatang, a Korean pork and potato stew that comes with a mildly spicy kick. The staff will bring out the amount of food accordingly to the number of people in our group. We were served a large bowl of gamjatang meant for two persons to share. The serving of pork bones was generous. The stew included chunks of potatoes. Those who needed more carbohydrates can order rice, hand-torn dough flakes or ramyeon to add to the stew.

There were also side dishes that included large chunks of radish kimchi, pickled onions, ssamjang, sliced cucumbers and green chilli peppers that were super long.

The gamjatang for 2 persons. The pork backbones are stacked to the brim of the bowl.

Look at the length of the green chilli pepper.

The meaty pork bone was well cooked, tender and falls off the bone easily. Best was the flavorful and tasty soup in the stew. It was particularly good on a cold day. Although the food was good, the restaurant was not a place where we could linger after our meal.

Seongsu-dong has many cafes where we could laze over a cup of hot drink. I had ear-marked Daelim Changgo as our next stop.

On the way to Daelim Changgo, we made a brief stop to buy and try the famous salt-bread from Jayeondo Sogeumppang Salt Bread. There is always a queue at this shop but the ordering process was fast and efficient. We placed our orders and pay via a machine, then get a receipt and collect the food almost immediately from the staff at the counter.

We bought 4 pieces of the salt bread in a pack for 12,000 KRW.

Sogeumppang Salt Bread

The buttery bread was soft with a nice crust. We ate 2 on the spot and saved 2 for later, which was a mistake. Once cold, the bread became chewier and not as good.

After trying the salt bread, we went to our coffee place. Daelim Changgo resides in a gigantic warehouse with a faded red brick façade.

The interior is spacious, as is expected from a warehouse. Even then, most of the tables were occupied but we managed to get seats in the far corner of the cafe.

The interior is quite rustic with open beams, unfinished walls and cement floor.

Part of the interior has a translucent ceiling to let in natural light.

There is a display case in the middle with an array of pasta, pizza, and baked goods. Although there are many tempting pastries on displayed, we were too full to eat anymore.

There is a display case in the middle with an array of pasta, pizza, and baked goods.

This is one of their specialties. Thinly sliced bread On hindsight, we should have tried some.

Taking a selfie via a mirror.

Some hot tea, instead of coffee, for a change.

After recharging ourselves at the cafe, we walked to another interesting place to see in Seongsu-dong.

Haus Nowhere is a relatively new store that opened in September 2025. Haus Nowhere features global fashion brands such as Gentle Monster (eyewear), Tamburins (fragrances), and specialty brands like Atiissu (headwear like caps, beanie) and Nuflaat (tableware). There is also Nudake Teahouse offering artistic desserts worthy of Masterchef.

Upon entry, we were wowed by a gigantic animatronics dog. The sleeping dog was so realistic, complete with gentle breathing, muscle twitches that reminded me of my own dog sleeping at home.

In addition to the dog, there are other impressive displays of robots.

Gentle Monster eyewear on the second floor.

We took our time to browse the items on sale and see some of the art on display. The service staffs were attentive but I noticed not many customers buying.

Nuflaat on the third floor has some interesting tableware. I particularly like the utensils with red talons nails cemented on them.

From Haus Nowhere, we took a short bus ride to COEX Mall just to visit the famous Starfield Library. Located within the mall, the library has become a tourist magnet and no wonder. It is extremely beautiful and photo-worthy.

It is a working library housing about 50,000 books. We saw more tourists snapping photos than locals reading the books. Actually, there were not many places to sit and the selves were too tall for most of the books to be accessible,

Starfield Library, located in Seoul’s COEX Mall, is a stunning library known for its modern architecture and open space.

It has 13-meter-high bookshelves, housing about 50,000 books.

Since we visited in November, there are impressive Christmas lightings within the library, which attracted even more people.

Christmas decorations inside the Starfield Library.

We came to COEX Mall just to see the Starfield Library.

Is the library worth visiting? Yes, if you like to see something unusual. It is quite photogenic too.

Would I come again? No.

The shops within COEX mall were not that impressive. We were looking for toys stores but found none. The food options were also limited.

We ended the day back in Myeongdong where we had our dinner. We had already tried the lamb BBQ Skewers and Pork Barbeque. This time, we had craving for beef barbeque.

We chose to go to Wangbijib Korean BBQ Restaurant, Myeongdong branch to satisfy our craving.

The restaurant uses a charcoal grill and has a smoke extraction device above the grill.

The quality of the beef is good and the staff was helpful to assist in grilling the meat and taking our photo.

Tofu stew to complement the grilled meat.

Side dishes that came with the meal.

It was a good choice as we had a delicious meal in a pleasant restaurant. Overall, a satisfying beef BBQ dinner in Seoul.

Exploring Seoul – Daehak-ro, Naksan Park and Toy Street

2025-12-04T16:00:00.000+08:00

20 November 2025

The Seoul fortress wall had been featured in many k-dramas and the scenes were so attractive. The original Seoul Fortress walls were built upon the 4 surrounding mountains:

Bugaksan Mountain: Located north of the city center.
Inwangsan Mountain: Known for its rocky ridges and picturesque views of the city, often paired with a visit to historic sites.
Namsan Mountain: Located in the center of the city, home to N Seoul Tower.
Naksan Mountain: A smaller, gentle mountain famous for its wall hiking trails.

We decided to see Naksan Park since there is a walking trail along the Seoul Seonggwak (fortress wall) stretching about 2 km from Hyehwamun to Heunginjimun, the East Gate of Seoul.

Seoul Fortress Wall at Naksan Park.

Getting to Naksan Park

Naksan Park is located in the Jongno-gu district of Seoul. The most popular ways to get there are through the Hyehwa Station (Line 4) area, which involves walking through the Ihwa Mural Village, or from Dongdaemun Station.

We chose to go via Hyehwa Station and then take the trail to Dongdaemun area. Instead of taking the subway fro Myeongdong, we took a bus instead.

Exploring Daehak-ro

We alighted along Daehak-ro, which is next to the Hyehwa Station and Marronnier Park. “Daehak-ro” means “University Road” in Korean and this road used to be the major road in the middle of Seoul National University's campus before the university is relocated. Now the area had transformed into a major arts and culture street. There is a distinctively youthful and laid back vibe, with shops and F&B places catering mainly to University students and young adults in this area.

For those who like cafe and K-drama, there is a cafe called Hakrim Dabang (학림다방) that is one of the oldest in the city. This cafe is popular with fans since it was used as a filming location for K-dramas like My Love From The Star and The Heirs. Since we came too early in the morning (before opening time), we had to give this cafe a miss.

Instead, we took our time to explore Marronnier Park. There are often performances and events taking place here but it was quiet in the morning. There were some students from the nearby university playing in the park.

Gingko tree with beautiful yellow leaves in autumn.

This red-brick building in Marronnier Park is a theatre.

We saw a couple of road sweepers who took pride in their work and even created an artistic piece using the yellow leaves from the gingko trees.

4 leaf clover design using fallen gingko leaves. Nice artistic work by the road-sweepers.

Besides the theatres and Art Center, this place is also the site of the 8th US Military HQ during the time of the Korean War.

Walking up to Naksan Park

Walking to Naksan Park from Marronnier Park involves a steady uphill climb through a quiet residential area. We took Dongsung-gil and then Naksan-gil. This relatively quick route took about 15 minutes and there are interesting things to see along the way.

Outside an Italian Restaurant (Di Matteo Daehakro) on our way to Naksan Park.

Instead of taking the stairs up to Naksan Park, we followed Naksan-gil Road till we saw a sculpture of the man with a dog walking to the sky.

Interesting sculpture at the edge of the mural village.

From there, we turned left and walked up a sloping path through Naksan Park towards the summit.

Tree bared of leaves but laden with many birds’ nests.

Autumn foliage could be seen on some trees.

The road up to the summit offered some nice views of the mountains surrounding Seoul. There are even exercise machines for the local residents (and some crazy tourists) to work out.

View of Seoul city and the mountains surrounding it.

Naksan Park

The first thing that we saw when we arrived at summit of Naksan Park is the Seoul City Wall with views of downtown Seoul. There are a couple of observation platforms and pavilions along the wall.

View of the Seoul City Wall with views of downtown Seoul. Unfortunately, there are many unsightly cranes all over the city.

Sign indicating this part of the Seoul City Wall was featured in the movie K-Pop Demon Hunters.

Walking along the trail next to the fortress wall.

This view would be even better at night, with the twinkling city lights.

Autumn colours could be seen from Naksan Park.

A selfie photo with help of a mirror.

We took our time to walk along the trail next to the wall. The views of the city with the old fortress walls were quite nice.

N Seoul Tower on Namsan Mountain as viewed from Naksan Park.

Ihwa Mural Village

Walking down towards Dongdaemun, we entered into Ihwa Mural Village again. This village is a residential area with various murals hidden in its alleys. There are signs informing visitors to keep quiet and respect the privacy of the residents. Apparently some residents were fed up with the constant stream of noisy visitors in the past and had actually destroyed or painted over some of the murals.

One of the murals we saw.

Mural of white angel wings that is half destroyed.

Exploring Naksan Park and the mural village can be tiring and thirsty. There are many cafes in the area for tired legs, hungry tummy and those needing a caffeine shot.

We stopped by Cafe Gaebbul. This cafe only sells hot drinks so we were told to go to the bakery next door to buy pastries.

Baeogae Bakery next to Cafe Gaebbul.

After getting our drinks and snack, we made our way to the upper floor of the cafe. This place is quite popular. We managed to get a couple of seats on the roof terrace with nice views.

Coffee break with a view.

Seoul city and the iconic N Seoul Tower on Namsan.

The street in Ihwa Mural Village where the cafes were located.

I think this is another cafe. Cat-themed cafe.

This street leads down to Daehak-ro. We did not take this street all the way down.

After a brief exploration of the small mural village, we took the road down towards Dongdaemun and walked alongside the Seoul fortress wall towards Heunginjimun, the East Gate of Seoul.

Cafes also lined this road towards Dongdaemun.

This stretch of fortress wall towards Dongdaemun is quite nice.

View of Heunginjimun, the East Gate of Seoul.

A stunning autumn landscape in Seoul with the swaying silver grass, historical fortress wall and gate.

There are quite a lot of things to do at Dongdaemum. This includes shopping at Doota Mall, exploring the futuristic Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP), and walking along the Cheonggyecheon Stream. We skipped all that since we had been here and done that. Instead we went to a place where most visitors to Seoul would not go.

Dongdaemun Stationery and Toy Street

We really wanted to buy some toys for our grandchildren back home and it has not been easy to find appropriate toys in Seoul. Then we found “Dongdaemun Stationery and Toy Street” from Google Map. This is a vibrant alleyway (21-1, Jong-ro 52-gil, Jongno-gu) in Seoul, home to nearly 120 shops selling toys, stationery, and party goods.

This is the perfect place to buy stationery as gifts and/or souvenirs and all sorts of toys, especially those originating from Korea like Pororo or Tayo the Little Bus. Some of the shops are wholesalers, so we could even get them at lower than retail prices.

Dongdaemun Stationery and Toy Street.

Checking out the Remote Controlled, 4WD Monster Trucks for my grandson.

A bit of nostalgia sets in after seeing the figurine of Astroboy in one of the shops. This is a character from a cartoon TV series I watched as a kid.

Seungjin Toy store - One of the most famous and largest, most comprehensive shops in the area with the giant gorilla figure and bear on the storefront.

Outside Seungjin Toy Store. Posing next to Pororo, with bags of toys that we bought!

Mission accomplished at Toy Street, we took a short bus ride to Ikseon-dong Hanok Village.

Exploring Ikseon-dong Hanok Village

2025-12-02T12:08:00.000+08:00

20 November 2025

There are several hanok villages in Seoul, most famous being Bukchon. Ikseon-dong Hanok Village is the newest and up-and-coming one that has gained in popularity in the last few years. While Bukchon Hanok Village is a traditional, residential neighborhood, Ikseon-dong is trendier with cafés, restaurants, and boutique shops.

An alleyway in Ikseon-dong Hanok Village.

Ikseon-dong was Seoul's oldest hanok residential area from the 1920s. But in 2014, the city government permitted the renovation of the hanoks for businesses. Today, most of the traditional hanoks along the narrow alleyways had been repurposed into trendy boutiques, themed cafes, restaurants and pubs.

Located in Jongno-gu and next to Insadong, Ikseon-dong is easily accessible by subway or bus. After a morning of exploring the area around Naksan Park, we came to Ikseon-dong for lunch and also to check out the famous cafes.

I had earmarked a few restaurants to check out. The first restaurant we went to was the Ikseon Chwihyang. This is a Western restaurant that serves excellent steak and pasta. Like most excellent restaurant, there was a long queue when we arrived. We were too hungry to wait for a table. We gave up and went to Damsot Ikseon instead.

Lunch at Damsot Ikseon

Damsot Ikseon serves pot rice using a type of iron pot called damsot that is supposed to enhance the flavor and texture of food as it cooks. Very much like the claypot rice we are familiar with back home.

We actually wanted to try this dish when we were at Seongsu-dong but the pot rice restaurant at Seongsu-dong was too crowded.

At this Ikseon-dong branch, there was no queue and we were quickly seated. The menu offers various proteins to go with the rice in the pot such as abalone, beef, chicken, salmon, eel etc. We ordered their signature steak pot rice.

The steak pot rice was beautifully presented in the iron pot with cubes of grilled beef, a raw egg yolk, sesame seeds and wasabi.

Beef steak rice presented on a wooden tray with side dishes, salad, soup and a jug of ochazuke broth.

We are supposed to mix everything together in the pot, like eating bibimbap. Then we are to scoop out the rice onto a bowl or eat the rice directly from the pot. At the end of the meal, the crispy, charred rice at the bottom is to be mixed with the ochazuke broth for a soothing fermented soup.

Unfortunately, the pot was not hot enough so there were little crispy rice bits. The rice with raw egg mixed in, also become soggy. I also find that the beef cubes were not seasoned strongly but they tasted good with a bit of the sweet sauce dip. The wasabi very good and potent enough to bring tears to my eyes.

Overall, we enjoyed our lunch at Damsot despite the above shortcomings. The portion was not large, so we will have room for dessert later at one of the cafes.

Cafes at Ikseon-dong

There is probably no better place for cafe hopping than in Ikseon-dong. I have shortlisted a few cafes but sadly, we could not try them all without getting a caffeine over-dose. Instead we went into “browse and photo” mode where we went to take a look and shoot a photo instead of spending time and money inside.

Soha Salt Pond Cafe with the nice salt flats decoration outside. This cafe is supposed to serve excellent salt bread.

Another store that serves the salt bread is the Jayeondo Sogeumppang Salt Bread booth in Ikseon-dong. Same as the Seongsu store, there is a minimum purchase of one 4-pack (₩12,000) per order.

Nakwon Station Cafe for the train lovers. There is a train track at the entrance of the cafe, making it a very insta-worthy spot. I will definitely step inside if we were travelling with our train-fanatic grandson.

Rain Report Cafe with artificial rain coming down the roof.

After browsing several cafes, we settled inside Cafe Onhwa Ikseon to have desserts. Like most cafes in Ikseon-dong, this cafe is housed inside a beautifully renovated hanok but came with an airy feel when seated next to the hanok’s open courtyard.

Cafe Onhwa Ikseon

This cafe serves amazing souffle pancakes that are freshly made ensuring the best texture and taste. We have all the time in the world to wait 20 minutes for the souffle masterpiece.

Souffle pancake with incredibly fluffy texture, wobbly and is not too sweet. It is complemented by light whipped cream and caramelized banana with thick crispy sugar crust.

The cafe offers a selection of beverages, including hand-drip coffee, matcha latte but we chose to have something fruity.

Another notable cafe in Ikseon-dong is the Cheong Su Dang Bakery. This cafe’s iconic entrance of lush bamboo trees around a small pond with stepping stones leading to the entrance of the cafe is probably one of the most popular photo spot around this neighborhood. Unfortunately, we were not able to find this cafe!

There are many more excellent cafes that we have missed. One more reason to come back to Seoul and Ikseon-dong in the near future.

Ikseon-dong is beautiful lit at night.

Dinner at Jangsu Samgyetang

We ended our visit to Ikseon-dong with dinner at a samgyetang restaurant. Samgyetang, or Korean ginseng chicken soup, is a nourishing dish featuring a whole young chicken stuffed with glutinous rice, garlic, jujubes, and ginseng. We went to Jangsu Samgyetang located neat Exit 4 of the Jongno 3-ga subway station. Google map location here.

As the restaurant is located on 2F, the entrance to the restaurant is not prominent. Even at the 2F entrance, we hesitated to enter until a friendly staff waved us in after we asked “ Jangsu?”

There were many locals in the restaurant which was a good sign. The service staff quickly brought us an English menu which means that many tourists come to this place as well.

The menu offered half portion for people like my wife who does not have a good appetite. We ordered a regular samgyetang and a half-sized healthier yak-samgyetang that has added herbal medicine.

Menu in English. The prices are so much lower compared to Samgyetang restaurants back home.

We were served a small glass of complimentary ginseng wine that we could drink as a shot or added to the soup to enhance the medicinal flavor of the meal. There is also the usual banchan or side dishes that include fresh kimchi, pickled garlic, and green chillies.

The samgytang is boiling furiously in the ttukbaegi.

Split the chicken open and a large piece of ginseng could be found inside the cavity, plus some rice.

Overall, Jangsu is a highly recommended for their delicious and value-for-money samgyetang.

New Zealand South Island – 12D/11N Self-Drive Road Trip Itinerary

2025-07-29T22:01:00.001+08:00

New Zealand’s South Island is the land of farms, fiords, glaciers, dark skies and breathtaking landscapes of blue lakes and mountains. One of the best ways to tour New Zealand is to self-drive with a rental car. During our road trip, we went hiking, wine tasting, cruise in a fjord, glowworm hunting, stargazing and much, much more.

Our rental car from Ezi Car Rental. A spacious and fuel efficient Ford Escape Hybrid AWD.

Being from Singapore, driving in New Zealand’s South Island was easy since we had the same right hand drive road system. It was also relaxing and fun to drive on this road trip since we spent most of our time outside the larger cities where traffic was light and parking was not a hassle.

Our 12D/11N self-drive road trip starts and ends at Christchurch. Our route was as follow:

Christchurch –> Hokitika –> Fox Glacier –> Wanaka (2 nights) –> Te-Anau (2 nights) –> Queenstown –> Mount Cook –> Lake Tekapo –> Christchurch.

Day 1 – Arrival and overnight in Christchurch

We flew to Christchurch via Auckland and arrived at Christchurch International Airport at 6.30 PM. We picked up our rental car at the airport and drove to our accommodation.

Our car rental agency has its office right next to the place where we collected our luggage.

After a long flight, we had a lazy evening in Christchurch. We had dinner at a Thai restaurant near the motel and did grocery shopping for food, drinks and snacks that we would need for our road trip.

Where we stayed: We just needed a place near the airport for a one night stay before embarking on our road trip. Airport Birches Motel is a value- for-money motel with free parking and located near amenities like restaurants and grocery stores.

Day 2 - Travel NZ’s Great Alpine Highway from Christchurch through Arthur’s Pass to Hokitika

We started our road trip with a coast to coast drive from Christchurch to Hokitika via the Great Alpine Highway. The 230 km journey would take us through amazingly scenic landscapes and offers plenty to do along the way.

Key activities along the way include:

Stop at the small town of Sheffield and try the World Famous Sheffield Pies. This little bakery shop is highly recommended by people driving to and from Arthur’s Pass.

See Homer’s Doughnut in the small town of Springfield. The doughnut is based on the doughnut frequently featured in the American animated sitcom The Simpsons, which is set in a city also named Springfield.

Enjoy the scenic views at the Porter’s Pass Lookout.

Stop at Castle Hill (Kura Tāwhiti) and do a short hike amongst the interesting boulder formations. This is one of the most popular stops on the scenic Arthur’s Pass drive and is a good place for photography.

Interesting boulder formations at Castle Hill (Kura Tāwhiti).

Take a look at Mount White Bridge. This remote and beautiful place is a hidden gem that many people will miss when driving across Arthur’s Pass. It is also good place for landscape photography.

Beautiful landscape at Mount White Bridge.

Stop at the Arthur's Pass Scenic Lookout (Gateway to Arthur’s Pass National Park) to enjoy the views.

Hike to Devil’s Punchbowl Falls. This is a 45 minutes (2 km) hike to view the 131m Devil’s Punchbowl Falls in Arthur’s Pass Village.

Devil’s Punchbowl Falls in Arthur’s Pass Village.

See the Otira Viaduct from the

Otira Viaduct lookout points.

Trip report: Travel NZ’s Great Alpine Highway from Christchurch through Arthur’s Pass to Hokitika

Hokitika is a good place to stay for a night before continuing our road trip down the West Coast of the South Island towards the glacier towns of Fox and Franz Josef.

We spent the evening exploring Hokitika town and beach.

We were lucky to view a fantastic sunset from Hokitika Beach.

After dinner, we went to Hokitika Glowworm Dell to see glowworms.

A free attraction in Hokitika at night!

The glowworms appeared as
tiny pinpoints of blue lights. There were hundreds, maybe even thousands, of tiny lights shining like the stars in the night sky. This was my first experience with glowworms and it was quite magical.

Trip report: Hokitika’s Sunset, Bunnies, Pizzas and Glowworms.

Where we stayed: Amberlea Cottages in Hokitika. The 2 bedroom cottage is located in a quiet part of town and is nicely furnished with a very modern feel and had everything we need for a lovely stay.

Our rental car parked next to our cottage with a ramp that made it easy to transport our suitcases.

Day 3 – Visit Hokitika Gorge and drive to Fox Glacier

We did the Hokitika Gorge Walk in the morning. Hokitika Gorge is located some 33 kilometres or 40 minutes drive inland from Hokitika town.

Hokitika Gorge with its turquoise blue water.

The 1.2 km trail is generally flat and it was an easy walk through a fern forest with plenty of ferns.

We had to cross a suspension bridge over the gorge where we could see the turquoise water with white rocky limestone cliffs and lush green rainforest on both sides. Overall, a very enjoyable activity to do in the morning.

We had lunch in Hokitika town, refuel our car before continuing our road trip down the West Coast to the small glacier towns of Franz Josef Glacier and Fox Glacier.

Trip report: Morning Walk at Hokitika Gorge.

The drive to Franz Josef Glacier from Hokitika took about 2 hours. Upon arrival, we did short hikes to see the Franz Josef Glacier and also Peter’s Pool.

Franz Josef Glacier.

After our little hikes at Franz Josef Glacier, we drove about 40 minutes to Fox Glacier, another town named after the glacier next to it.

Trip report: Hokitika to FranzJosef and Fox Glacier road trip.

Fox Glacier is a smaller town compared to Franz Josef. I choose to stay here instead of the Franz Josef because of Lake Matheson. After checking into our accommodation, we had time to do a hike at Lake Matheson before dinner.

Lake Matheson is one of the most popular lakes in New Zealand and famous for its mirror-like reflections of New Zealand's highest mountain Aoraki/Mount Cook and Mount Tasman from its surface.

I was looking forward to taking some epic photos but the weather on this day was not favourable.

For dinner, we ate at the highly rated restaurant Betsey Jane Eatery & Bar. It was certainly a good place for a meal when staying at Fox Glacier.

Although we had seen glowworms at Hokitika’s Glowworm Dell, we went glowworm hunting again at Fox Glacier! The place to see glowworm is at Minnehaha Walk. This is a 20 minutes loop trail through the rainforest, full of old trees, mossy areas, ferns.

Trip report: Fox Glacier - Lake Matheson hike and Glowworm Hunting at Minnehaha Walk.

Where we stayed: Rainforest Motel in Fox Glacier. This is a value-for-money motel that came with everything we needed for a one night stay.

Rainforest Motel at Fox Glacier.

Day 4 - Drive across Haast Pass from Fox Glacier to Wanaka and do the Roy’s Peak hike

The drive from Fox Glacier to Wanaka should take about 3.5 hours (262 km) without any stops but there are many attractions and sights to see along the way so it could take much longer.

My original plan was to take a slow leisurely drive to Wanaka arriving in the evening. We had planned to hike up Roy’s Peak for sunrise the next day, departing early at 4 AM.

Roy’s Peak is a difficult hiking trail located just outside the town of Wanaka near the edge of Mount Aspiring National Park. It is one of New Zealand’s most popular trails as the view from the Roy’s Peak Lookout is stunningly beautiful!

Stunning landscape at Roy’s Peak Lookout.

We had to adjust our plan due to rain forecasted at Wanaka on the day we were supposed to do the hike.

We decided to do a direct drive to Wanaka, timing to arrive at noon so that we could do the hike up to Roy’s Peak in the afternoon while the weather is still good.

The drive from Fox Glacier in the early morning was quite scenic. We crossed many one-lane bridges on the way.

One of the many One-lane bridges in NZ.

The most scenic part of the drive was along Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea, after crossing Haast Bridge.

Scenic view on the highway to Wanaka.

Trip report: Scenic Drive across Haast Pass from Fox Glacier to Wanaka.

We had lunch in Wanaka and checked into our accommodation before doing the hike up Roy’s Peak in the afternoon. The weather was perfect for our hike.

Stunning view of Lake Wanaka and the surrounding mountains along the trail.

A series of non-stop switchbacks on the trail up to Roy’s Peak Lookout.

The hike took about 7 hours and it was dark when we completed our sunset hike. Hiking Roy’s Peak trail is on the bucket list of many people. We cannot come to Wanaka and not attempt this challenge.

Savouring the rewards after all the effort.

Trip report: Our afternoon hike to Roy’s Peak Lookout.

Where we stayed: We stayed 2 nights in a nice three bedroom house in Wanaka. Alpine Abode has a size of 190 square metres and was our favourite accommodation on this trip.

Alpine Abode in Wanaka.

It is very well furnished and luxurious.

Fully equipped modern kitchen with dishwasher, induction hob, appliances and utensils for cooking our breakfast and dinner.

Day 5 – Free and Easy in Wanaka

After the grueling hike up Roy’s Peak, we had a rest day in Wanaka where we had nothing really planned except a leisurely walk along the shore of Lake Wanaka and taking photos of the famous Wanaka Tree in the evening.

This is probably the most photographed tree in New Zealand. It even has its own hash tag on Instagram, #thewanakatree.

After a lazy morning in our accommodation, we decided to go to some nearby vineyards for wine tasting. Central Otago is one of the most scenic wine regions in New Zealand. It is also home to some of the best pinot noir in the world.

Vineyard near Wanaka.

There are several vineyards near Wanaka that offered wine tasting. We visited Maori Point Vineyard that is located 25 minutes by car from Wanaka. Maori Point’s cellar door offers standard wine tasting of six wines for NZ$20 per person (waived with bottle purchase). They also carry local food items for assembling our own platters to enjoy with the wine.

Trip report: Free and easy at Wanaka – wine tasting and #thatwanakatree.

Day 6 – Drive from Wanaka to Te Anau.

This is the day where we did a long drive from Wanaka to Te Anau via Arrowtown and Queenstown.

We took the Crown Range Road from Wanaka to Arrowtown, a historic gold mining town. We did a 2 hour stop for lunch and enjoy the ambience within the historic town.

Arrowtown is a living historic gold mining town. Many tourists visit this place as a day trip or half-day trip from Queenstown.

Trip report: Exploring Arrowtown.

The Crown Range Road is an exhilarating road with hairpin bends and steep grades.

The Crown Range Road is an exhilarating road with hairpin bends and steep grades. There are plenty to see along the viewpoints on this scenic route.

We made stops at a few places for photos, namely Cardrona Bra Fence, Cardrona Hotel, Crown Range Summit Lookout and Crown Range Scenic Lookout.

I made a stop at the small town of Cardrona, just to visit a charming old hotel. Cardrona Hotel is one of New Zealand's oldest and most iconic hotels.

Crown Range Road offers many scenic views as it is the highest main road in NZ.

Trip report: Driving the Scenic Crown Range Road from Wanaka to Arrowtown.

Our final destination for the day was Te Anau. Te Anau is a relaxed, lakeside town on the South Island of New Zealand. We stayed at this town for 2 nights since it serves as a gateway to Fiordland National Park and Milford Sound. Milford Sound is one of the few places that visitors to New Zealand must not miss and was

Te Anau has some fine restaurants. We had dinner at the Redcliff Restaurant and Bar.

After dinner, we did some star gazing and astrophotography just outside our hotel. Te Anau has little light pollution and is a great place for star gazing.

We managed to take some photos of the constellations and the Milky Way.

Where we stayed: Our accommodation in Te Anau was the Amber Court Motel. Amber Court Motel offers modern accommodation in a quiet location, just a few minutes walk from Lake Te Anau. Our 1-bedroom apartment includes kitchenette facilities, satellite TV and electric blankets on the beds.

Trip report: Our Evenings at Te Anau – great food and star-gazing.

Day 7 – Cruise on Milford Sound and hiking in the Fiordland National Park.

The plan for the day was to do a morning cruise at Milford Sound and then take our time to drive back to Te Anau. Along the way back, we did some short hikes in the Fiordland National Park.

Morning is the best time to cruise Milford Sound.

The 119 km drive from Te Anau to Milford Sound and back was one of the most scenic and unforgettable journey we did. Commonly known as the Milford Road, State Highway 94 is the only road access to Milford Sound. There are easily accessible scenic spots like the Eglinton Valley, Mirror Lakes, Lake Gunn, Monkey Creek and short hiking trails to waterfalls or viewpoints along this road. There is also the Homer Tunnel that is bored through the sheer granite of the Darran Mountains.

Surreal landscape at Eglinton Valley at dawn.

Lake Gunn and Mirror Lakes are best visited just after sunrise.

We had to leave early in the morning to make it in time to catch our 9.45 AM cruise with Cruise Milford. More details on how to plan the drive to and from Milford Sound and why we chose to cruise with Cruise Milford are in the following trip reports.

Trip report: Driving the Milford Road to and from Milford Sound.

Trip report: Morning Cruise on Milford Sound with Cruise Milford.

We had time for a 3 to 4 hour hike along the Milford Road after our Milford Sound cruise in the morning. We chose to do the 6.8 km hike to Key Summit, one of the best short hikes in Fiordland National Park.

Enjoying the hike and views at Key Summit.

Trip report: Hiking the Routeburn Trail to Key Summit.

We ended the day with a wonderful dinner at Fat Duck Gastropub back in Te Anau.

Day 8 – Drive from Te Anau to Glenorchy and Queenstown.

This was a day where we did a very long 217 km road trip from Te Anau to Glenorchy (via Queenstown) and then back to Queenstown (distance of 46 km) where we would stay for the night.

Devil's Staircase Lookout is the best scenic stop along the drive from Te Anau to Queenstown.

Glenorchy is a small settlement at the northern shores of Lake Wakatipu. It is worth a visit as the 46 km drive from Queenstown to Glenorchy, along the shores of the lake, is one of the most scenic drives in the world.

Picnic lunch at Wilson Bay.

We chose to stop at Wilson Bay for a picnic. There are a few other similar spots along the road from Queenstown to Glenorchy.

Bennetts Bluff has the best viewpoint between Queenstown and Glenorchy.

The details on what to see and do on the drive from Te Anau to Glenorchy are in the following trip report.

Trip report: Scenic drive from Te Anau to Glenorchy via Queenstown.

We arrived at Glenorchy in the early afternoon. We spend some time to explore the town and its attractions such as the Glenorchy Wharf Shed and Pier, Mrs Woolly’s General Store and took a short drive to Isengard Viewpoint.

Iconic red shed located at the entry point to the Glenorchy pier.

Isengard Lookout is a must-visit for fans of Lord of the Rings movie.

The Isengard Viewpoint on Kinloch-Glenorchy Road provides a stunning view of the area and was used for filming the Isengard location in the Lord of the Rings movie.

Trip report: Exploring Glenorchy and looking for Lord of the Ring’s Isengard.

From Glenorchy, we took the same scenic drive back to Queenstown where we would stay for one night. Our plan for the evening was just to soak in a little of the city’s lakeside ambience and sample the famous burgers in town.

Queenstown’s waterfront is a relaxing place with nice views, especially in the evening.

Trip report: Evening at Queenstown and trying the Best Burgers – Devil Burger versus Fergburger.

Where we stayed in Queenstown:

We stayed at an Executive One bedroom apartment in St James Apartments which is conveniently located within the town center and came with free parking. After a long day of road tripping, it was good to explore the town on foot.

Day 9 – Drive from Queenstown to Aoraki/Mount Cook

Scenic Mount Cook Road leading to Mount Cook Village.

The drive from Queenstown to Aoraki/Mount Cook is 255 km long and is one of the most scenic road trips in New Zealand. It is a must-do experience when visiting the South Island. There is so much to see and do along the way that we took almost the whole day to complete this journey.

Bungee jumpers at Kawarau Gorge.

This includes the following:

Watching the bungee jumpers at Kawarau Gorge Suspension Bridge.
Wine tasting at Kinross Winery.
Visit the heritage precinct at Cromwell.
Driving across Lindis Pass.
Lunch at High Country Salmon.
Stopping at various scenic viewpoints along the Mount Cook Road to take photos of Mount Cook and Lake Pukaki.

Kinross Vineyard is one of the many vineyards that offer wine tasting in the Gibbston area.

Trip report: Epic road trip from Queenstown to Aoraki/Mount Cook Village.

On the road to Mount Cook Village.

We arrived at Mount Cook Village at about 4 PM and checked into our hotel. We had time to do a short evening hike at Hooker Valley Track before sunset which was 7.50 PM at this time of year. The Hooker Valley Track, a 10km return hike in Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park, was top in my “must-do” list for this road trip in NZ’s South Island.

I wanted to do this hike during the golden hour just before sunset as the light during this time is best for photography.

One the suspension bridges along the Hooker Valley hiking trail.

We only had time to hike up to the 2nd suspension bridge but I achieved my goal of capturing the epic view of Mount Cook, painted gold by the warm rays of the setting sun, and Hooker River in the foreground.

View of Mount Cook on the Hooker Valley trail during sunset.

After the hike we had dinner at the Chamois Bar & Grill and then did stargazing with some friends. Mount Cook Village is known for its stunning night sky, being a part of the International Dark Sky Reserve.

Milky Way galaxy and a sky full of stars!

Trip report: Hooker Valley hike at sunset and star gazing in Mount Cook Village.

Where we stayed in Mount Cook National Park: The best place to stay when visiting Mount Cook National Park is in the Mount Cook Village. Hotels are limited so book early.

The Hermitage Hotel is one of the best hotels in the village and I managed to book a Superior Room from their hotel’s website.

Superior Room offers fantastic views of Mount Cook and the surrounding mountains.

View from our room at Hermitage Hotel.

Day 10 – Hiking at Mt Cook (Hooker Valley and Tasman Glacier Hike) and drive to Lake Tekapo

Our plan for the morning was to do the Hooker Valley hike. This hike was so fantastic that we are doing it again, but at different time of the day.

There are a total of 3 suspension bridges on the trail.

Hooker Valley trail in the early morning.

The hike on a mostly flat track through Hooker Valley to Hooker Lake provides incredible views of the Southern Alps, glacial streams and the majestic Aoraki (Mount Cook).

Hooker Lake is the end point of the Hooker Valley trail.

Trip report: Hooker Valley Hike at Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park.

After completing the Hooker Valley hike in the morning, we had time for a short afternoon hike at Tasman Valley before leaving Mount Cook National Park for Lake Tekapo. Overall, I did not enjoy this hike as compared to the more scenic Hooker Valley hike.

Hiking at Tasman Valley under the hot sun.

Scrambling up a moraine to view Tasman Lake and Mount Cook.

Trip report: Tasman Valley Hike at Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park.

After the hikes, we drove about 100 km to Lake Tekapo. Lake Tekapo is known for attractions such as The Church of the Good Shepherd and is an excellent destination for stargazing since it is in the middle of Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky reserve.

The journey by car from Mount Cook National Park to Lake Tekapo would take approximately an hour and a half, offering numerous scenic viewpoints along the way.

A good place to stop for lunch is at the Mt Cook Alpine Salmon Shop located on the southern shore of the Lake Pukaki.

It was about 4.30 PM when we arrived at Lake Tekapo. For dinner, we had fish and chips from a highly raved food truck known as The Better Batter.

Evening is the best time to go for a walk by the lake and visit The Church of the Good Shepherd just before sunset.

The Church of the Good Shepherd at Lake Tekapo.

Lake Tekapo is renowned for its exceptional stargazing opportunities, being part of the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve. I booked a stargazing tour with Astro Tekapo. This is a small group tour with a maximum of 10 participants. After experiencing stargazing with our naked eyes, we had a chance to see the heavenly bodies through the 2 telescopes provided. The guide programmed his telescopes so we could see various nebulas, star clusters, binary stars etc.

Trip report: Lake Tekapo.

Where we stayed in Lake Tekapo: The apartment, known as Stellar Apartment, is located on high ground and is a few minutes drive to the lake. We stayed in a One Bedroom apartment.

Day 11 – Drive from Lake Tekapo to Christchurch

Our drive from Lake Tekapo to Christchurch was the last leg of our 11 days road trip around the South Island of New Zealand. We took the direct route, via State Highway 8, 79 and 1, which was about 225 km long. The drive should take about 3 hours without stopping but we planned to stop at a few places along the way.

Historic village of Burkes Pass is a nice place to stop for photos.

Brief stop at the historic village of Burkes Pass. A “must visit” is the general store named Three Creeks, where retro collectables, artwork and furniture could be found. The store is also surrounded by classic cars, a 1950’s service station and memorabilia.

Stop at Farlie to eat the gourmet meat pies from Fairlie Bakehouse.

Buy some local produce like honey at the Farmer’s Corner, located just outside Ashburton.

Check out the vintage trains and working steam engines at the Plains Vintage Railway & Historical Museum in Ashburton.

Ashburton was our last stop. From there, we took Highway 1 into Christchurch.

Our plan for the evening was to take an evening walk into the city center for dinner and visit the Christchurch Botanical Gardens.

Where we stayed in Christchurch: Our accommodation at Christchurch was Argyle On The Park, conveniently located on Deans Avenue near the City Centre overlooking beautiful Hagley Park. I chose this motel because it is located close to the Christchurch Botanical Gardens and is also possible to walk into the city via the beautiful park just across the road from the place. The motel offers free parking too.

Day 12 – Return car at the airport and travel home.

Our flight home departs Christchurch International Airport at noon time. So we spent a lazy morning at the motel before driving to the airport.

Returning the car was easy and swift. The process was to park the car at the designated lots in the airport car park and drop the keys off. There was no one from Ezi to inspect the car so we took photos and videos of our rental car before dropping off the keys at the car rental office located next to the parking bays.

Overall, our experience with Ezi Car Rental had been positive. The car was relatively new, clean, well maintained and it served us well.

Some tips for a New Zealand Road trip

1. The car is a critical success factor in a road trip. Book your rental car from a reliable and reputable car rental company. Book early for the best prices and book directly with the car rental company instead of via a third party booking sites to avoid nasty surprises.

2. Plan for picnics along the journey. There are so many places in NZ with picnic benches, toilets and of course, gorgeous scenery. We brought along a cooler bag to keep our drinks cold and also store our perishable foodstuff that we bought from the grocery stores. We also brought along a flask for hot water to make tea and coffee at our pit stops. There are relatively few cafes along the way, compared to other countries.

3. Drive safe and keep your eyes on the road. It is easy to get distracted by the scenery.

4. Allow slightly more time for the drive when planning the itinerary. Do not rush and take breaks along the way. The timing on Google Maps is a bit optimistic.

5. Keep to the speed limit, especially on the curvy, winding roads.

When the road bends, there are massive yellow reflective signs indicating the safe speed for the bends.

6. Most of the roads in the rural areas are on single carriageways.

If there are faster cars tailing you, pull over off the road or move to the side so the faster cars overtake safely.

7. There are many one lane bridges, with signs indicating who has the right of way.

Typical signage at the one lane bridge. The direction with the bigger black arrow has the right of way.

Slow down and check for oncoming traffic, even if you have the right of way! There was one instance that a tour bus came at me even when I had the right of way. The driver probably did not see my car entering the bridge or he was just a big road bully!

8. Do not just pull over just anywhere on the road to take a picture. There are many designated lookout points along the highways and most of them are marked in Google Maps. Plan which ones are worth a stop for the views and photos. Skip those that are on the opposite side of the road if it is not safe to pull over.

9. Some places are remote and has no petrol stations for a long stretch. Watch your fuel gauge and top up fuel when needed, especially before going to Milford Sound or driving across Haast Pass. Contrary to my expectations, fuel is actually cheaper in the smaller towns like Te Anau, Farlie and Hokitika compared to the bigger cities like Queenstown and Wanaka.

10. Plan to arrive at your destination before last light. It is not advisable to drive on unfamiliar roads in the dark. There are no street lamps on the country roads!

Travel NZ’s Great Alpine Highway from Christchurch through Arthur’s Pass to Hokitika

2025-07-20T13:23:00.000+08:00

14 March 2025

We started our road trip around the South Island of New Zealand with a coast to coast drive from Christchurch to Hokitika via the Great Alpine Highway. The 230 km journey would take us through amazingly scenic landscapes and offers plenty to do along the way.

We left Airport Birches Hotel at about 8.30 AM. The route from our hotel in Christchurch follows State Highway 73 west across river plains before ascending to traverse Porters Pass and Arthur’s Pass National Park. The total driving time without any stops is about 3 and a half hours, so we had plenty of time to explore various sights and natural wonders along the way.

The first part of the drive on Highway 73 through the Canterbury Plains was relatively easy, with straight roads through farmlands and suburban towns and views of the Southern Alps in the horizon.

Driving along Highway 73, with the Southern Alps in the distance.

World Famous Sheffield Pies

We made a deliberate stop at the small town of Sheffield. We cannot come to New Zealand and not eat their meat pies. The first pies we bought in this trip were from a bakery in Sheffield called the World Famous Sheffield Pies. This little bakery shop is highly recommended by people driving to and from Arthur’s Pass.

There are ample parking spaces behind the shop. Despite a sign informing customers where to queue for the pies, there was no queue since we were early. The shop had a great selection of pies displayed behind the glass cabinet and all looked very good.

There were so many types of meat pies to choose from.

Outside the Sheffield World Famous Pie Shop.

We bought 3 different types of meat pies and an iced coffee for takeaway since we just had a nice breakfast less than an hour ago.

Our choices were:

Sheffield Supreme Pie stuffed with steak, bacon, cheese and onion.
Country Chicken with chicken, bacon and mushroom.
Steak and cheese pie.

Homer’s Donut in Springfield

We made a quick stop at the next small town along State Highway 73, just to snap photos of a pink coloured donut complete with sprinkles on it. Springfield shares the same name as the fictional town where the cartoon characters in The Simpsons cartoon live.

The Simpsons cartoon has been around for more than 30 years. On 27 July 2007, The Simpsons Movie premiered across the globe and 20th Century Fox presented a giant pink donut to the town of Springfield in NZ to promote this movie.

The original donut was destroyed by fire in 2009 and the current donut was a new one installed in 2012. The sculpture looks identical to Homer Simpson's favorite snack.

It even has metallic steps so that we could climb up and take a photo with our heads in the centre.

Homer’s Donut is located in a field right next to the highway, so it was quick and easy to make a stop just for some photo fun.

Leaving Springfield, we headed westward and drove through some farmlands in the plains.

Dairy cows as seen from our car along the Great Alpine Highway. This, plus that of sheep and deer, would be a common sight in the days to come.

We spotted mist ahead but our concerns for bad weather soon cleared up, just like the sky above us. New Zealand's weather is known for being unpredictable, with locals often joking that you can experience "four seasons in one day" due to its rapid and frequent changes.

Porter’s Pass

We ascended the winding mountain road from the mist on the Canterbury Plains through Porter’s Pass to clear skies above the mountain range.

There were some heavy vehicles chugging along up the slope, so we had to go slow. It is good that the authorities had build in some passing lanes into the highway at regular intervals for faster vehicles to overtake safely.

We made a stop at the Porter’s Pass Lookout which was located on the right side of the highway. The space was large enough for several cars but we were the only car that made a stop.

Our car at Porter’s Pass Lookout.

The view from the lookout was magnificent. We could see the winding road that we had taken through the mountain range.

View of the mountain ranges and large vehicles struggling up Porter’s Pass.

The large vehicles that we had overtaken earlier soon pass by. When we continued our drive downhill, it was strange that we never see those vehicles again. They must have gone at a faster speed when descending.

Castle Hill (Kura Tāwhiti)

Castle Hill, also known as Kura Tawhiti by the indigenous Maori Tribe Ngai Tahu, is one of the most popular stops on the scenic Arthur’s Pass drive.

Even from the highway, we could see many large boulders and rock formations strewn on a hill to our left. These looked like ruins from old medieval castles on a hilltop, hence giving the place its modern name. Large signs pointed us to a large car park on our left, so it is almost impossible to miss this attraction.

From the car park, there is a clear, open, and marked 1.4 km track to access the rock formations and boulders.

Sculptures near the entrance.

There were sculptures erected near the entrance. There is an informative sign here as well educating visitors about the ancestors connected to the land.

On the right of the access track was a vast field with grazing sheep.

On the access track to the boulders of Castle Hill.

With a little imagination we could give meanings to various rock formations. A set of stones known as Croaker Rock looked like a pair of mating frogs.

Croaker Rock

Further on, I saw a set of rocks that looked like a Mom with her left arm raised, disciplining a child with head bowed while the silent Dad looks on.

Does this look like a Rock family with Dad, Mom with bun up hair and raised arm and Child with bowed head?

The set of rocks reminded me of our recent trip to the Stone Forest of Yunnan. Like the stone forest of Yunnan, these rocks were under the sea 30 millions of years ago. The limestone rocks were formed from shells accumulated on the seafloor and then compressed over many years. The collisions of tectonic plates (NZ is on a fault line!) pushed these mountain ranges up and exposed the limestone rocks.

One of the many interpretive signs found along the trail.

Water eroded the limestone into the rock formations seen today. Castle Hill itself sits at about 700 meters above sea level.

Castle Hill is a photographer’s dreamland. We are free to wander off the marked trail to snap photos amongst and on top of the rocks. We took our time to explore the area, snapping some photos and climbing to the top of some of the boulders to get some unique angles and views.

On our way back to car park, we stopped to view and photograph the grazing sheep. For city folks, these are rare photographic opportunities.

It is a known fact that there are more sheep than humans in NZ.

Although there are public toilets at the car park, there was a long queue of people waiting. Several tour buses just pulled up.

My son needed to use the toilet urgently. We decided to drive a few minutes down Highway 73 to Castle Hill Community Hall where there are much better toilet facilities with flushing WC and basin with tap water. The toilets at Castle Hill car park are long drop toilets with no tap water.

We chatted briefly with a friendly staff at the Community Hall who was with a librarian. In the small township of Castle Hill, there is a mobile library that visits the community on a regular basis. They offered a good collection of very new books that the locals could borrow.

“Library-on-wheels” at the Castle Hill Community Hall.

A few picnic benches sited next to the
Castle Hill Community Hall was an ideal place to have our picnic lunch. We ate the World Famous Sheffield Pies with hot drinks that we brought along.

Picnic lunch at Castle Hill.
World Famous Sheffield Pies.

The pies were generously filled with chunks of delicious beef or chicken. Yummy indeed. The only negative was that the crust was a little tough and chewy. To be fair, we did not eat the pie freshly made, so that may have affected the texture of the pie crust.

Mount White Bridge

Leaving Castle Hill, I was undecided whether to make a slight detour from Highway 73 to go take a look at Mount White Bridge (Google Map location here). I was glad we did.

Leaving Highway 73, we drove on an unsealed gravel road for a few minutes before getting a view of a bridge across the Waimakariri River.

The NZ TranzAlpine Scenic Train passed through this place and this is one of the scenic views that the passengers would enjoy. We had to drive across the railway tracks just before crossing the river on the single lane Mount White Bridge. The bridge is painted white in colour but I am not sure if this is due to its name.

What is so nice about a white colour bridge?

View of the Mount White Bridge, looking back at the way we came from.

The bridge is nothing special. It is the remoteness of the location and the gorgeous views that made this place so interesting.

We parked our car by the side of the track and walked down to the bank of the Waimakariri River. While we were there, we spotted a campervan making its way across the bridge as well.

The campervan stopped beside our car. Its occupants came down for a short while, took some photos and then drove back across the bridge, leaving us alone at this place.

A common road sign in the South Island denoting a single lane bridge and who has right of way.

We took our time to enjoy this remote and beautiful place. It could easily be chosen as one of the filming locations for the movie Lord of the Rings but it is not.

View of the bridge from the river bank.

The river and the mountains beyond made this remote and unspoiled place so scenic and special.

Enjoying a photo shoot on the banks of the Waimakariri River.

Photo shot from the bridge itself

This place is a hidden gem that many people will miss when driving across Arthur’s Pass. We almost did.

Arthur's Pass Scenic Lookout

We drove back to Highway 73 to continue our journey to Arthur’s Pass. We had to cross a very long single lane bridge across the Waimakariri River again before stopping at the Arthur's Pass Scenic Lookout. The car park is located on the left side, just after crossing the bridge.

This is the gateway to Arthur’s Pass National Park and is worth a stop. There is a stone signage with good views of the river and mountains beyond.

Entrance to Arthur’s Pass National Park.

Views of the mountains at Arthur’s Pass National Park.

Arthur's Pass, climbing to more than 900 metres above sea level through Arthur's Pass National Park, is the highest and most spectacular pass across the Southern Alps. There are many peaks over 2000 metres high with deep and steep sided valleys that has the U-shaped profile typical of glacial action.

It is named after Sir Arthur Dudley Dobson who found a route, originally used by Maori hunting parties, across the Southern Alps.

We did not stopped at the Arthur’s Pass Village which had a train station for the TranzAlpine Railway, post office, visitor centre, petrol station, tea rooms, restaurant and a few accommodations. We drove straight to the car park near Devil’s Punchbowl Falls located a few hundred meters after the village. There are several walking trails around Arthur’s Pass Village and we had chosen to do the hike to Devil’s Punchbowl Falls.

Hike to Devil’s Punchbowl Falls

The trail is about 2 km return and is an “out and back” trail. According to the signage, it should take about 45 minutes to complete.

Shortly after starting the hike, we could see the waterfall in the distance, through the trees. For those who did not want to hike to get a closer view, they could turn back at this viewpoint.

Sneak preview of the Devil’s Punchbowl Falls near the start of the trail.

We next crossed the footbridge on the Bealey River.

Nice view from the footbridge across the Bealey River.

We then entered a lush beech forest before climbing up a series of steps to a viewing platform at the base of the spectacular 131 m tall waterfall. There are about 300 steps to negotiate. This served as a good warm-up/training for us before we attempt the more challenging hike up to Roy’s Peak in a few days time.

Example of the steps along the trail.

View of the 131m Devil’s Punchbowl Falls from the observation deck.

Otira Viaduct lookout

Leaving Arthur’s Pass Village, we made 2 brief stops at lookout points to view some engineering marvels that made traversing Arthur’s Pass safer and easier.

The first lookout point, known as the Otira Viaduct Lookout, is located on the right side of the highway. There is a proper turnoff lane into a small road leading up to the lookout point.

The Otira Viaduct lookout offers nice views of the viaduct built across Otira Gorge. We would be driving across the viaduct later.

The alpine parrot Kea is known to frequent this place but no Kea was spotted during our short visit.

View of the Otira Viaduct over Otira Gorge from the first lookout point.

The second lookout point, known as the Otira Rock Shelter Lookout, is located on the left of the highway just after we crossed the Otira Viaduct.

View from the Otira Rock Shelter Lookout.

We could see how the rock shelter has literally sheltered the road from rockslides. There is even a chute for water from a waterfall to fall beyond the highway.

Driving through the water chute and rock shelter.

This stretch of narrow and curvy road through the gorge has to be driven with care. After negotiating the winding road down the mountain to Otira, we stopped opposite the Otira Stagecoach Hotel for my son to take over the driving. This hotel has an interesting figure of Gollum/Sméagol , (a character from the Lord of the Rings movie) perched on the roof.

Otira Stagecoach Hotel with a figure of Gollum/Sméagol from the Lord of the Rings on top.

On hindsight, we should have gone into the hotel for a coffee break or a meal. I had read that this quirky hotel has a nice museum full of collectibles and antiques.

Leaving Otira, it was an easy and scenic drive down to the West Coast of the South Island.

Highway 73 ends at the roundabout known as the Kumara Junction. From there, we took the Coastal Highway 6 towards Hokitika.

On the way into Hokitika Town, we made a stop at the Hokitika Glowworm Dell. This is the place to see the famous glowworms of New Zealand for free. There is nothing to see in the day, except a signage to explain what is a glowworm.

The glow-worm is a type of insect that glows in the dark, commonly found in New Zealand's caves, grottos and native forests.

We planned to return after dark to see the glowworms later. It was good to stop to recce the place so we know what to expect.

This is the place where the glowworms could be found. We would be back after sunset!

Hokitika

Hokitika is a good place to stay for a night before continuing our road trip down the West Coast of the South Island towards the glacier towns of Fox and Franz Josef.

We reached our accommodation at about 4 PM. The check in process at Amberlea Cottages was simple and fast. We had been given the pin number for the electronic door lock and we just need to let ourselves in.

Our accommodation in Hokitika is a nice 2 bedroom house that is located in a quiet neighbourhood located a few minutes drive from the town centre.

We enjoyed cheese, prosciutto, crackers and white wine before heading out to explore Hokitika town.

Historically, Hokitika started as a settlement and port in support of 1860s gold rush. Today, it is a tourist town with galleries specializing in greenstone jewellery and art. Visitors also could do a hike at Hokitika Gorge (which we plan to do the next day) and also enjoy the beach which is especially nice at sunset.

Hokitika’s Sunset, Bunnies, Pizzas and Glowworms

2025-07-18T14:34:00.000+08:00

14 March 2025

We arrived at Hokitika after a fantastic journey on the Great Alpine Highway from Christchurch through Arthur’s Pass. We checked into Amberlea Cottages at about 4 PM, took some time to settle and rest before driving into the town centre at about 5 PM.

Located on the West Coast, Hokitika started as a settlement and port supporting gold mining activities in the old days. Today, it is a tourist town with galleries specializing in greenstone jewellery and art. All of the galleries were closed by 5 PM but we had no interest in them.

The town did not change very much from the last time I visited back in 2004 with the whole family.

Father and son at Hokitika in 2004 with the clock tower and Railway Hotel at Weld Street.

Father and son at Hokitika in 2025 with the clock tower but from different perspective. The Railway Hotel is still around.

Hokitika Beach and Shipwreck Memorial

We parked our car at the town centre and took a short walk to the beach. The beach is full of driftwood and not a good place to swim. Not to miss is the iconic sign of the town’s name made from driftwood.

Sign made from driftwood at Hokitika Beach.

There are other art pieces made from driftwood on the beach.

A dragon made from driftwood on Hokitika Beach.

We walked along the esplanade towards Sunset Point which is supposedly a good place to watch the sunset. The western sky was cloudy, so we were not having high hopes of seeing a nice sunset.

On the esplanade leading to Sunset Point with nice cloud formation overhead.

Located near Sunset Point is the Shipwreck Memorial. When gold was discovered on the West Coast, miners set sail for Hokitika. However, the sand bar at the mouth of the Hokitika River was a shifting, dangerous obstacle and many ships ran aground there. The reconstructed schooner Tambo commemorates the 42 ships wrecked crossing the sandbar. The Tambo was grounded in a storm in 1866.

The memorial is a concrete replica of the salvaged vessel.

This anchor is real and salvaged from the wreck.

Having some fun on the “ship”.

Photographing the storm clouds at the western sky.

Storm clouds releasing rain just off the shore. Plenty of driftwood on the beach.

Bunnies on the beach!

We saw a baby rabbit that is so cute and unfearful. Soon after, more rabbits could be seen. The rabbits are wild but are quite used to humans on the beach. I was able to get close to them before they dashed away. That was when I noticed their prominent white cotton tails flashing as they hopped away. I was curious if that would make them easier for predators to spot.

I did some research and found that the white tails are actually a defense mechanism. The white coloring of the rabbit's tail actually distracts and confuses predators as the rabbit darts back and forth. Predators focused on the tail would not notice which direction the rabbit is heading next.

Interacting with the wild rabbits on Hokitika Beach.

Fat Pipi Pizza

We chose to have dinner at Fat Pipi Pizza because this restaurant is located by the beach and also it has good reviews.

We ordered two medium-sized pizzas and local beer. Their specialty was the whitebait pizza but we did not like whitebait. We ordered a Cajun Supreme (topped with chicken, shrimps, chorizo, red capsicum, jalapenos, red onion and cajun seasoning and a Mariner Pizza (topped with fish, shrimps, mussels, smoked salmon, red onion and capers).

Each pizza made to order with thin crust base, freshly prepared homemade authentic Italian sauce, and a mixture of mozzarella cheese and sprinkle of cracked black pepper, parmesan and parsley. A sign in the restaurant set expectations that the wait time may be long but we were in no hurry.

Outdoor seats at the garden in Fat Pipi Pizza.

Cajun Supreme and Mariner Pizza.

After about 15 minutes, the freshly made pizzas were served. The pizza crust was thin and hard and was quite delicious.

During our dinner, we took turns to go to the beach to check on the sunset. We knew weather conditions could change suddenly in NZ.

Hokitika Sunset

We were pleasantly surprised by beautiful red sunset at 7.40 PM. Miracle happened. The storm clouds had moved up, allowing the sun the peek through.

Many people were crowding around the Hokitika Beach Sign and enjoying the beautiful sunset.

After the fantastic sunset, I was hoping that we could see an astronomical event that was supposed to happen after sunset on this day. From 8 to 8.30 PM just after the sun sets in the west and the moon rises in the east, the earth’s shadow would pass over the full moon giving rise to a total lunar eclipse. The moon would turn blood red during this period.

No more miracles. The eastern sky over the mountains remained cloudy. In any case, I doubt that we could see the moon even on a clear day since the moon would probably be blocked by the mountains.

Hokitika Glowworm Dell

We went to the glowworm dell as planned. We had done a recce of the place earlier in the day.

Information on glowworms posted at Hokitika’s Glowworm Dell.

Glowworms are actually the larvae of fungus gnats, an insect that looks similar to mosquitos and only found in Australia and New Zealand. They feed on insects smaller than them. Glowworms are bioluminescent animals, meaning that they create light through their tail with a process called bioluminescence. To capture their food, they have to build a network of silk threads that hang vertically from their habitat that are covered in a sticky mucus. Their prey are drawn to the glowing bioluminescent light. They fly towards it and get stuck onto the sticky threads.

They most commonly live in caves, forests and other sheltered, damp areas. The most popular glowworm caves in New Zealand are in Te Anau and Waitomo. To see them in this locations, visitors have to join a paid tour.

In Hokitika’s Glowworm Dell, we could see the glowworms for free, without needing to join a tour.

There were already a few cars at the car park at 9.30 PM but there was enough space for our car. There were a few groups walking in and out of the glowworm dell.

We are supposed to keep quiet and not shine bright light at the insects. We brought along a red light torch and point it only at the floor so as not to disturb the glowworms and also other visitors.

Within a few minutes walk from the road, we arrived at the place where the glowworms live. Once our eyes get used to the darkness, the bioluminescent light from the glowworms became more visible.

This is what the place looked like in the day. At night, the place is totally dark.

Photographing the glowworms was challenging, requiring long exposure with our smartphones mounted on a tripod. We managed to take a few photos but soon gave up since there were too many people and some were shining lights from their phones as they moved around.

The tiny blue lights from the tiny glowworms look like stars in the sky.

We enjoyed the magical experience of witnessing the free light show put up by these amazing creatures in the dark forest.

Not a very good photo of the glowworms but this is to show them hiding amongst the branches and leaves.

Morning Walk at Hokitika Gorge

2025-07-15T22:15:00.000+08:00

15 March 2025

Blue lake and rocky shore
I will return once more
Boom-diddy-ah-da, Boom-diddy-ah-da, Boom-diddy-ah-da, bo-oo-oom

The lyrics of the above Canadian folk song (Land of the Silver Birch) that I used to sing at campfires when I was a Boy Scout immediately came to mind when I walked upon the suspension bridge over Hokitika Gorge.

Below me, I could see the turquoise water with white rocky limestone cliffs and lush green rainforest on both sides. With views like this, I was glad that we included the Hokitika Gorge Walk into our itinerary.

Hokitika Gorge as viewed from the suspension bridge.

Getting to Hokitika Gorge

Hokitika Gorge is located some 33 kilometres or 40 minutes drive inland from Hokitika town. It was an easy and scenic drive through the plains and farmlands.

Morning drive to the gorge from Hokitika town.

My son did the driving so I had the opportunity to enjoy the views and shoot some photos of our journey. I particularly like the views with the low clouds and mist that hangs over the farmland.

Hokitika Gorge Walk

There is a large car park at the gorge and it was surprisingly crowded. Autumn morning was quite chilly, so we were decked out in our jackets. It was a good thing to cover ourselves as the place is known to have the black flies or sandflies.

We applied sandfly repellent to exposed parts of the hands and face at the car park. The distance from the car park to the gorge where we could get to the water is about 1.2 km one way and should take about 45 minutes, according to the sign put up by the Department of Conservation (DOC).

The estimated timing is mostly accurate for the average walker.

Previously, the hiking trail at Hokitika Gorge was a loop trail over 2 suspension bridges over the gorge. One of the suspension bridge is now under maintenance, so the trail became a out and back trail. We have to take the same trail back to the car park.

Map showing the current trail.

The trail is generally flat and it was an easy walk. The first 900 metres of the trail is through a fern forest with plenty of ferns. Breath in the crisp fresh air and enjoy the greenery.

First part of Hokitika Gorge trail.

Although ferns are common in my home country, I particularly like the tall tree ferns which are rare back home.

Tree ferns in NZ that can grow up to 20 metres in height.

We soon came to a suspension bridge where I first caught sight of the blue lake and rocky shores.

The suspension bridge is a little bouncy and this is the first of many that we would be crossing during this trip.

My son enjoying the views from the middle of the bridge.

The water of Hokitika Gorge appears turquoise blue due to the presence of glacial flour in the water. Glacial flour is a fine, silt-like sediment that is created by the grinding of rocks by glaciers. The sediment is suspended in the water, causing the sunlight to scatter and reflect off the particles, creating a striking blue-green hue that is both stunning and unique.

After crossing the bridge, the trail follows the edge of the gorge with a number of viewing platforms.

View of the gorge and suspension bridge that we crossed earlier.

We caught up with a local tour guide who was guiding a couple of tourists. As we passed them, we heard a loud splash. Apparently, a young man had dived into the blue pool from the rock face opposite us.

The rock face which was at the end of the trail.

The local guide muttered "What an idiot!".

I agree with her.

We soon reached the end of the trail with an observation deck. Access to the beach and rocks below is via stairs on the left side of the deck.

Observation deck with good views of the gorge.

View of gorge from the observation deck.

There is a warning sign warning about the dangers in the gorge.

Despite the warning signs, there are young people diving from the rocks and swimming in the waters.

My son and I went down to take some photos on the rocks. There were sandflies near the water. The insect repellent we sprayed on was effective and they don’t bother us.

We could see the suspension bridge that is out of service. If it was in service, we would not have to go back the way we came.

We drove back to Hokitika town where we topped up the petrol in our car before continuing our road trip down the West Coast to the small glacier towns of Franz Josef Glacier and Fox Glacier. Petrol is probably cheaper here than further down the remote coastal highway.

Lunch at Hokitika

We also topped up our stomach with a good lunch at a restaurant called the Thatcher and Small. We reckoned that there are also more restaurants in Hokitika than in the smaller town of Franz Josef Glacier.

This restaurant serves good food and coffee and is a good place to eat when in Hokitika.

NZ Beef steak with delicious fries and salad.

The fish and chips, made from blue cod, in New Zealand is really good with light crispy batter and sweet cod fish. This is miles better than the typical fish and chips we have back home.

Hokitika to FranzJosef and Fox Glacier road trip

2025-07-12T15:38:00.000+08:00

15 March 2025

From Hokitika, we continued our road trip down the west coast to New Zealand’s glacier country. The Fox and Franz Josef glaciers, some of New Zealand's largest and most-visited, descend down from the Southern Alps and flow almost to sea level.

Well, almost.

With global warming, both glaciers had retreated much higher compared to the yester-years and I did not have high expectations on seeing much of the glaciers.

My plan for the day was simple. Drive to the town of Franz Josef Glacier to do a short hike to Peter’s Pool before continuing to Fox Glacier where we would stay for one night. We should have time to do a hike at Lake Matheson before dinner.

The drive to Franz Josef Glacier from Hokitika took about 2 hours. En-route, we made a brief stop at Lake Lanthe Wharf (Google Maps location here) for a coffee break. This is a good place to stop for a short break from driving as there are views of the lake, picnic benches and toilet facilities.

Enjoying a cup of hot coffee that we brought along on Lake Lanthe Wharf.

We arrived at the Franz Josef Glacier Car Park (Google Maps location here) as planned. This is the car park nearest to Peter’s Pool.

From the car park, we spotted the Franz Josef Glacier. I had not expected to see any glacier due to the weather conditions but we did! Even then, it was just a tiny bit of the glacier.

View of the Franz Josef Glacier from the car park.

A sign at the car park indicated that viewing conditions was GOOD.

We decided to do the impromptu hike to the end of the Forest Walk to get a better view of the Franz Josef Glacier. The signage indicated the hike would take about 30 minutes return or 15 minutes one way.

Signage pointing to the Glacier View at the end of the Forest Walk.

It was an easy walk to view the glacier. Along the way, we had a sneak preview of the glacier. Despite the clouds hanging low over the mountain range, there was a break in the clouds, just enough for us to see the glacier with a bit of blue sky above.

View of the glacier along the short easy hike.

Well maintained track with plenty of greenery and ferns.

Slight gradual uphill to the view point.

At the end of the trail, we arrived at an observation deck with views of the glacier valley and the glacier in the far distance. There is even a small waterfall on the cliff to our right.

At the observation deck at the end of the Glacier View track. This is the closest (3 km) we could get to view the Franz Josef Glacier.

Zoomed in photo of the Franz Josef Glacier.

The old walking track on the glacier valley is no longer accessible.

I remembered that back in 2004, my wife and I with our 3 kids, did a hike on the glacier valley. We were able to walk right up to the terminal face of the glacier (photo below). We could even touch the glacier and took photos right next to it. Now the track had been closed off for safety reasons.

Photo of our family’s hike to the glacier in 2004. The glacier was longer and reached right up to glacier valley.

Memory of our hike (in light rain) to the glacier back in 2004.

It is sad to see that the glacier has receded so far up the mountain due to global warming. Franz Josef Glacier used to fill the whole valley in 1908. According to the sign, glaciers can shift up to 5 meters a day as it melts and retreats.

Nowadays, the only way to really see and touch the glacier is by helicopter to reach the top section of the glacier. This was what we did in 2004 as well.

The kids throwing snow on top of the glacier.

It was a once in a lifetime experience. So, once is enough.

Peter’s Pool

After seeing the glacier, we took a walk to Peter's Pool as per our original plan. The track to Peter’s Pool starts from the same car park and should take only 25 minutes.

The total distance is 1.1 km, return via same track.

Sign explaining how the kettle lake was formed.

Peter’s Pool is a small kettle lake, which was formed by ice melting amongst glacial moraine about 200 years ago. The glacier is long gone but the reflective pool remains.

We could enjoy the reflective views of the glacier valley and mountains but where is the glacier?

After our little hikes at Franz Josef Glacier, we drove to Fox Glacier, another town named after the glacier next to it. The journey took about 40 minutes, up and down switchbacks across the mountain.

We checked into the Rainforest Motel, our accommodation for the night. I thought the motel looked familiar. It was later than I discovered that we stayed at this same motel back in 2004.

View from our room at Rainforest Motel.

Fox Glacier is a smaller town compared to Franz Josef. I choose to stay here instead of the Franz Josef because of Lake Matheson, located within a few minutes drive from the motel. We had time to freshen up before taking the short drive to Lake Matheson.

Next post: Lake Matheson and what we did at the town of Fox Glacier.

Fox Glacier - Lake Matheson hike and Glowworm Hunting at Minnehaha Walk

2025-07-09T15:00:00.000+08:00

15 March 2025

Lake Matheson is one of the most popular lakes in New Zealand and famous for its mirror-like reflections of New Zealand's highest mountain Aoraki/Mount Cook and Mount Tasman from its surface. I was looking forward to taking some epic photos but the weather on this day did not look favourable.

It was about 6 PM when we arrived at the Lake Matheson car park. There was only one car there and the popular Lake Matheson Cafe had also closed. The sun sets at 7.50 PM, so there was time for us to do the hike while there is still light. In fact, I chose to come just before sunset because the best time for photos is at sunrise and also at sunset when there is usually less wind and also good lightings.

To walk around the lake will take about 1.5 hours but we did not plan to do the whole walk. Most of the epics photos I had seen were taken from an observation deck called Reflection Island. The deck is built out a little way onto the lake providing the most unobstructed views of the mountains. We will only walk to the Reflection Island to see if we could get some good photos.

Getting to Reflection Island Lookout requires a 2.4 km hike.

Like many hikes in New Zealand, we had to cross rivers via suspension bridges.

Crossing a suspension bridge at the start of the trail.

View from the suspension bridge.

I noticed that the river water below me had an unusually dark colour. In fact, this is why Lake Matheson is so special. The natural tannins in the lake create a very dark brown tone to the water which increases the reflectivity of water surface.

We soon entered a forest with many ferns and moss.

Interesting moss growing in the damp forest by Lake Matheson.

Water was dripping from the moss growing on the side of the trail.

We then entered a clearing where we could “see” Mount Tasman and Mount Cook covered in clouds. The lighting in the hour before sunset, known as the golden hour, is great for photography. It really lit up the grassland and the lone tree, in contrast with the drab grey in the background.

The light in the golden hour just before sunset lit up the lone tree and grassland.

After enjoying the views from the clearing, we entered into the forest again. There was some up and downs as we hiked toward Reflection Island.

The Lake Matheson track is a gravel path and is well-maintained.

We arrived at Reflection Island and saw the disappointing view. The water of the lake was not calm with plenty of ripples. The mountains are shrouded in clouds as expected.

View from Reflection Island. No reflection and no mountains.

I did not get the epic shot that I was hoping for but there are still some nice views from the lookout point. Ducks and geese were swimming near the shore across the lake and the place was quite peaceful.

The water is indeed very reflective if the surface is calm.

The sun was setting behind us and we had an hour before the forest gets dark.

While hiking back to the car park, we discussed about the weather forecast for Wanaka in the next few days. We had planned to do a hike up Roy's Peak for sunrise when we are at Wanaka. This requires us to start our hike at 4 AM, giving us 3 to 4 hours to get to the Roy’s Peak Lookout for sunrise. Rain was forecasted for the day of our planned hike and also the day after. The only time of good weather was on the day that we arrived at Wanaka.

We decided to change our plan. We would now leave early from Fox Glacier, drive to Wanaka through the Haast Pass which takes about 3.5 hours and aimed to arrive by noon for lunch. We will than hike to Roy's Peak for sunset instead of sunrise.

We spotted this spot for photos but where are the mountains?

We were the only car in the car park when we returned. On our drive back, we stopped for a moment to shoot some photos of a curious cow with cute marking on its face.

There are not many places for dinner at Fox Glacier. The owner at Rainforest Motel had recommended the Betsey Jane Eatery & Bar, located next to the motel.

The highly rated restaurant was fully occupied when we arrived at 7.30 PM. The staff took our names and told us to come back later at 8.30 PM. There was time for us to take a shower at our motel before dinner.

We walked to the restaurant at 8.30 PM and as promised, we were seated. The food and service at this eatery was quite good. Certainly a good place for a meal when staying at Fox Glacier.

Ribeye steak.

Chicken burger.

Slow Cooked Lamb Ragout.

Although we had seen glowworms at Hokitika’s Glowworm Dell, we went glowworm hunting again at Fox Glacier!

The place to see glowworm is at Minnehaha Walk. This is a 20 minutes loop trail through the rainforest, full of old trees, mossy areas, ferns. The entrance to the trail is at the edge of Fox Glacier town, just past Bella Vista Motel. It is marked as Glacier Valley Cycleway Walkway.

Entrance to the Minnehaha Walk.

There is no parking next to the trail. We parked on the side of the road, in front of Bella Vista Motel, and walked 20 metres to the entrance.

The trail through the rainforest was pitch dark but we brought hiking headlamps, plus light from our smartphones. The trail crosses a few streams and it would not be nice to fall into them in the dark.

After a few minutes walk into the forest, we switched off all lights and let our eyes adjust to the darkness. We saw plenty of pinpoints of blue lights from the glowworms. Once again, we tried photographing the glowworms but it was not easy.

Tiny lights from the glowworms are in the midst of the branches and leaves.

We actually walked the entire loop of the Minnehaha Trail which took about 20 minutes. We stopped a few times to view the glowworms. It was a little eerie to be in the middle of the pitch dark forest but my son and I are used to this, having served in the armed forces. My wife felt a little uncomfortable but I guess the sight of the little insects made up for it.

Scenic Drive across Haast Pass from Fox Glacier to Wanaka

2025-07-05T11:29:00.000+08:00

16 March 2025

This is the day that we would drive from Fox Glacier to Wanaka. The 262 km journey should take about 3.5 hours without any stops but there are many attractions and sights to see along the way so it could take much longer. I had originally planned to do the following activities along the way:

Do a short walk at Monro Beach where we may have a chance to spot penguins on the beach.
Enjoy the views of the ocean at Knights Points Lookout and maybe spot some dolphins in the sea.
Take a short walk at Ship Creek to feed some sandflies.
View the waterfall at Thunder Creek Falls.
View Fantail Falls.
Stop at the Lake Wanaka Lookout for photos.
Stop at the Lake Hawea Lookout for photos.
Stop at the Lake Hawea Dam Lookout for photos.

With the activities during the journey, we would arrive at Wanaka in the evening. We had planned to hike up Roy’s Peak for sunrise the next day, departing early at 4 AM on Monday.

We had to ditch our plan due to rain forecasted at Wanaka on the day we were supposed to do the hike.

Rain forecasted for Monday, the day we planned to do the hike up Roy’s Peak for sunrise.

We decided to do a direct drive to Wanaka, timing to arrive at noon so that we could do the hike up to Roy’s Peak in the afternoon while the weather is still good. This meant that we only had time for brief stops at a FEW really nice places.

We left Rainforest Motel in Fox Glacier at first light. It was a good thing I had chosen to make full payment at check-in, so we could just leave the keys in the room upon check-out. We were probably the first car that departed the motel on this day.

Departing Rainforest Motel at 7.50 AM.

Fox Glacier was like a ghost town early in the morning. Ours was the only car on the road.

We took the Coastal Highway 6 southwards. We passed through several one-lane bridges, very common on this stretch of the highway.

Bridge over Fox River. One of the many one-lane bridges along Highway 6.

Another one lane bridge over Cook River.

Karangarua Bridge.

I love driving in the morning. There were lesser cars on the road and the morning light made the scenery more beautiful. We had to look out for cyclists though. We passed by a few groups of them.

Followed behind this group of cyclists slowly across one of the narrow bridges.

Driving through a tunnel of trees.

View of Mahitahi River and the Southern Alps.

Beautiful landscape as viewed from the car.

It started raining as we drove through the coastal area. We passed by Knights Point Lookout and Ship Creek but did not make any stop. We probably did not missed much since the weather was not good.

We had brief views of a rainbow as we approached Haast.

A bit of the rainbow as seen from the car due to the light rain.

After crossing the long one-lane bridge over the Haast River, we made a stop at the Haast Visitor Center. This place has excellent toilet facilities and information about what to do and see around Haast. Haast is also the place to top up petrol, if needed, before attempting to drive across the Haast Pass.

Haast Visitor Center.

The 140 km stretch of road between Haast and Wanaka is known as the Haast Pass Highway. The road winds among steep mountains cloaked in lush rainforest and cross tumbling rivers. Clouds were seen overhead. Fortunately, there was no rain on this dangerous, narrow and curvy road.

On the Haast Pass Highway (also Highway 6) towards Thunder Creek Falls.

We made a brief stop to view the Thunder Creek Falls and also to get a break from the driving. There are several waterfalls along the Haast Pass highway and this falls is probably the most impressive and accessible.

Thunder Creek Falls.

A few minutes away from Thunder Creeks Falls is the metal bridge over the Haast River, called the Gate of Haast. This is a good landmark on this drive but parking near the bridge is limited and also on the opposite side of the road.

Gate of Haast.

Haast Bridge. This bridge is an impressive crisscross of steel girders – beautifully designed and very sturdy.

We passed by several attractions such as Fantail Falls, Haast Pass Lookout (requires a hike) and Blue Pools (temporarily closed) but we chose not to stop.

The beautiful blue waters of Lake Wanaka soon came into view on our right side.

Lake Wanaka with deep blue water and mountains in the back

For the next 15 minutes or so, we were treated to beautiful views of the lake on our right as we travelled on the winding road that hugged the side of the mountain on our left.

Highway 6 along Lake Wanaka.

There are a couple of lookout points along this stretch of Highway 6 but they were all located on the right side of the road. It was dangerous to access these lookout points so we just enjoyed the views from the car.

After passing through a stretch of land known as the Neck, we stopped at a lookout point (Google Maps location here) on our left. This lookout point provides nice views of Lake Hawea and the surrounding mountains.

Snapping photos at the Lake Hawea Lookout point, just after the Neck.

This lookout point provides good view of the curvy road going down the side of Lake Hawea.

Driving down the highway with Lake Hawea on our left.

Car overtaking a slow vehicle on this dangerous stretch of road.

The drive to Wanaka was so scenic that we took our time to appreciate the scenery. This is not so for the locals who are probably sick of the views by now.

There is another lookout point further down the highway, near the middle of Lake Hawea (Google Map Location here). The second Lake Hawea Lookout Point had just a small area by the road for several cars to park. We managed to squeeze our car into the space.

A path leads to the viewpoint just above the car park where we enjoyed views of the blue waters of Lake Hawea. If we had come on a rainy or cloudy day, the views may not be as good.

Lake Hawea is so blue!

Views from the Lake Hawea Lookout.

This was the last stop we made on our way to Wanaka. We were glad to note that the weather was perfect for our planned hike in the afternoon.

It was slightly past noon when we arrived at the town centre of Wanaka. During the drive, we did research and chose to eat at Gusto168, a Chinese restaurant.

Hot and spicy Szechuan soup.

Foo Yong Omelette with whitebait.

Stir fried beef with ginger and onions.

Mapo Tofu dish.

The food at Gusto was quite good but I felt that the prices were a bit too high. We were charged NZD 135 for the above food, 3 steamed rice and 3 cans of Coke.

By the time we finished lunch, it was 1 PM. Everything has gone according to our new plan. We even had time to check into our accommodation in Wanaka before starting our challenging hike up Roy’s Peak.

Next post: Overcoming the challenge we set ourselves by hiking up Roy’s Peak.

Our afternoon hike to Roy’s Peak Lookout

2025-07-03T12:31:00.000+08:00

16 March 2025

Roy’s Peak Lookout with views of Lake Wanaka. Mount Aspiring and the surrounding mountains.

We would only hike to the famous viewpoint at Roy’s Peak Lookout which 30 minutes below the actual summit and end of the trail.

Some facts and figures of the trail:

Distance: 16 kilometres return (8 km to the summit, 6.3 km to the lookout point).

Elevation Gain: 1,258 metres to the summit and 800 to 900 metres to the lookout point. Equivalent to climbing a 300-storey building.

Time needed: 6 to 7 hours

Type of trail: Out and back. The journey is fairly steep with endless switchbacks.

Hiking the trail is definitely a challenge for us. It is probably not a challenge for my son who had conquered Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Kinabalu, Mount Rinjani and also hiked to the Everest Base Camp. It would definitely be a challenge for the two over 60s years of age whose only workout was running after our 12 kg grandson around the house.

Hiking Roy’s Peak trail is on the bucket list of many people. We cannot come to Wanaka and not attempt this challenge. We were a bit concern about our physical fitness and whether we could make it but we took it as a personal challenge.

We arrived at Roy's Peak car park just before 2 pm. It takes just 5 minutes to get there from Wanaka. Although there are 100 spaces available in the free public car park, we saw many cars parked along the side of highway. This is a sign of how popular this hiking trail is and also a sign that public car park was probably full.

We managed to find a space in the car park. I guess some of the morning hikers would have completed their hike and departed.

The entrance to the track is located on the left of the car park’s entrance.

View of the mountain we are about to climb. The end goal is somewhere up there!

The start of the Roy’s Peak track. We need to climb a small ladder over a fence to officially start the trail.

Some section of the trail is on private land, used by farmers for their sheep and cattle to graze on. The track would be closed annually for lambing season from the 1st of October to the 10th of November.

The track fee used to be $2. It had increased from $2 to $5. We dropped money into the collection box located at the entrance. It is based on the honesty system. We saw a young couple ignoring the fee and just proceed with the hike.

Initial part of the trail with steep incline.

The initial part was steep but we were fresh, so we tackled that part easily. After 30 minutes of toiling up the switchbacks, we saw that we had only ascended a few hundred metres of elevation.

There are some shortcuts across the switchbacks but this would mean a steeper ascend. We, the elderly couple, chose to go with the longer and more gradual route.

Our son taking one of the shortcuts. That was the one and only time he did that.

Took a photo of us after taking the short-cut.

The clay track is a well-maintained and is wide enough to handle the many people on the same track. Sun-screen is a must as the track is on open terrain with no shade. I enjoyed the cool breeze that blew almost continuously with temperature just around 15 degrees C. Occasional gust of wind would kick up some fine dust but our sunglasses protected our eyes.

The views got better as we hiked higher up the path. After an hour of hiking, we were rewarded with fantastic views of Lake Wanaka and also the township of Wanaka below.

After an hour on the track, we get to enjoy views like this.

A rest after 1.5 hours of hiking. The views get better and better the higher we go.

After the initial steep climb at the beginning, the middle section of the trail was slightly flatter but it was still uphill all the way.

Hiking poles really help. Initially I was using one pole and felt one side of my hip feeling a bit sore. My son gave up his pole for me. I found that walking up the steep incline with 2 hiking poles reduces the strain on my lower body.

View of the lake and mountains after 1.5 hours from start.

The hiking poles really made a difference.

After about 2 hours into the hike, we are probably somewhere near the middle section of the trail.

We could already feel a little sense of achievement when we saw the switchbacks we had taken to this point.

Our destination is somewhere there!

The trail gets steeper again nearer to the lookout point. By then, the almost 45 degree incline took its toll on us, the old couple. I had to stop for rests and drinks more often as I felt my leg muscles twitching to almost the point of cramp. It is amazing to see my wife going slow and steady like the Duracell bunny.

Almost there! We could see people at the Roy’s Peak Lookout.

Up and up we go. Slow and steady with short 30 seconds rest when needed for photos and a drink.

My leg muscles finally cramped when I arrived at viewpoint and sat down on some rocks. The chill of the mountain air and sudden relaxation is a trigger for cramps.

Our journey had taken 3 hours and 20 minutes which was not too bad. We were rewarded with the stunning views that made this hike so popular.

First photo of the Roy’s Peak Lookout. Many people would walk along the ridge to the end for photos.

There is even a long drop toilet at the lookout point.

It was quite chilly once we stop walking. We had to put on our wind proof jackets to keep warm. There is also a drop in temperature up in the mountain at dusk.

Roy’s Peak Lookout is a magnet for photographers and instagrammers. At peak times, there would a queue of people waiting their turns to walk along the ridge to the edge of the lookout point for photos.

There was no queue when we arrived. We took turns to walk down the ridge for photos.

Walking down to the Roy’s Peak Lookout.

The walk along the ridge was a little nerve wracking for me due to the strong wind and my fear of heights. There is also the fear that my overworked legs may give way suddenly.

My wife and I at the Roy’s Peak Lookout.

We told my son to hike to the actual Roy’ Peak summit while we rest at the Lookout Point. It should take him about 30 minutes (an extra 1.5km and 266m elevation gain) but he chose to stay with us.

Sunset at Wanaka is at 7.50 PM at this time of year. After a good rest and shooting lots of photos, we started on our return trip.

The walk down was also challenging due to our aged legs. I would probably just jog or skip down the trail 10 to 15 years ago.

We finally saw some sheep and cows on our way down.

These sheep on the trail moved away once we approached them.

The journey down seemed to take forever.

The cows giving a stare.

As the sky darkens, we spotted a family of rabbits as well near the bottom.

The sky was a little cloudy, so we missed seeing a spectacular sunset.

Reached the car park after a 2 hours 40 minutes journey down.

We made it back to the car park just in time before darkness sets in. There were only a few cars left in the car park. We had taken about 2 hours 40 minutes to descend from Roy’s Peak Lookout.

We went to New World Supermarket in Wanaka to get ready-to-eat dinner plus groceries for next few days. The supermarket is well stocked. We could buy Korean instant noodles and also roast chicken from the deli.

Dinner was roast chicken and instant noodles back in our apartment. Comfort food after a day on the mountain.

Is the hike up Roy’s Peak worth it? Definitely.

Would I do it again? Probably not. Been there done that!

Free and easy at Wanaka – wine tasting and #thatwanakatree

2025-06-29T11:56:00.000+08:00

17 March 2025

After the grueling hike up Roy’s Peak, we had a rest day in Wanaka where we had nothing really planned except a walk along the shore of Lake Wanaka and taking photos of the famous Wanaka Tree in the evening.

The famous Wanaka Tree, perhaps New Zealand’s most photographed tree.

I woke up early to watch the Carabao Cup Final that is scheduled at 5.30 AM, New Zealand time. Disappointingly, my team lost.

While waiting for the rest of the family to wake up from their slumber, I watched the sunrise from the terrace of our house. Although rain was forecasted for the next 2 days in Wanaka, there was no rain. There were dark clouds hovering over Roy’s Peak so it could rain anytime.

Sunrise time in Wanaka as viewed from our accommodation.

Clouds over Roy’s Peak. There may be a slight drizzle at the top and I was glad we did the hike earlier in fine weather.

I was glad had some time to enjoy the luxurious house that we were staying in.

Living room with large screen TV and Netflix channels to watch.

Dining area with a terrace outside.

Fully fitted kitchen with dishwasher, induction hob and everything needed to cook up a storm.

A nice breakfast of bacon, eggs, soup and bread, plus leftover chicken from last night’s dinner.

It was slightly past 11 AM when we finished our breakfast. Over breakfast, we discussed and decided to go to some nearby vineyards for wine tasting. Vast open plains and rugged landscapes make Central Otago one of the most scenic wine regions in New Zealand. It is also home to some of the best pinot noir in the world.

Since we decided on doing wine tasting at the spur of the moment, we could not go to Rippon Vineyard located within Wanaka which requires prior reservations. After some search on the internet, we shortlisted 2 vineyards that accepted walk-ins and are located within a short drive from Wanaka.

Leaving our accommodation for a wine tasting experience in Wanaka.

The first vineyard we went to was Nanny Goat Vineyard, located 15 minutes outside of Wanaka. Although the website indicated that they accept walk-in to their cellar door, they were fully booked.

We drove to the Maori Point Vineyard that is located further away (25 minutes by car from Wanaka). This time, we were welcomed to the cellar door by a friendly staff.

Lavender bushes outside the cellar door with plenty of butterflies and bees.

Maori Point’s cellar door offers standard wine tasting of six wines for NZ$20 per person (waived with bottle purchase). They also carry local food items for assembling our own platters to enjoy with the wine. Items include smoked salmon, cheeses, olives, preserves, pâté and other charcuterie, crackers (including gluten-free) and nuts.

We bought smoked salmon and a cheese pack with 4 kinds of cheese to enjoy with the wines.

There are picnic tables with views of the vineyard or we could also sit indoor. It was nice to sit outdoor to enjoy the scenery and ambience of the place. This area of New Zealand is known for their Pinot Noir and also the white wines. We tasted vines like the Riesling, Rose, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, a late harvest Pinot Gris and even a sparkling Pinot Gris which came in a can.

Vineyard with Pinot Noir grapes.

The staff went to the vineyard to cut a bunch of the Pinot Noir grapes for us to sample.

The wines presented are delicious and go well with the cheese and wet smoked salmon. We ended up buying 3 bottles (2022 Maori Point Pinot Noir, Riesling and a Pinot Gris).

As forecasted, it was drizzling a little when we arrived back at Wanaka. We parked near Lake Wanaka and explore the town area on foot. The town of Wanaka is small and filled with many pubs, cafes, souvenir shops and restaurants.

We tried the famous Patagonia ice-cream in Wanaka.

The rain did not last long. We took a walk along Lake Wanaka and were blessed by a beautiful display of sun-rays over the lake.

Sun-rays over Lake Wanaka.

Three little ducklings I want you. Fat one, skinny one, just like you.

We enjoyed looking at some ducks on the shore and also a row of majestic willow trees on the shore. Unfortunately, one of the trees is dead, for some unknown reason.

Willow tree with nice thick foliage.

Dead tree along Lake Wanaka.

Starting from the lake in front of the town center, we walked towards a well-known landmark, the Wanaka Tree.

The lone tree is supposed to be semi-submerged or even seen as sprouting defiantly from the lake. Set against the backdrop of the breathtaking Southern Alps, it is quite photogenic. This is probably the most photographed tree in New Zealand. It even has its own hash tag on Instagram, #thewanakatree.

#thewanakatree with dog.

The level of Lake Wanaka had gone down due to lesser rainfall in the summer. The tree was now indecently exposed, and not as glamourous as it should be.

The Wanaka Tree on the dried up Lake Wanaka.

There were many tourists, gathered by the shore, snapping photos of the tree.

There were still pools of water on the shore and I had to improvise a little to take the classic shots of the Wanaka Tree, with its reflection on the water’s surface.

The Wanaka Tree with its reflection on the waters of Lake Wanaka and the Southern Alps forming the backdrop.

Nice walk on the shores of Laka Wanaka.

So many wild ducks! So tempting to catch one for dinner.

Instead of eating out, we went to the New World Supermarket again to buy NZ ribeye, salad and other ingredients to cook our own beef steak in the house.

Enjoying our home away from home.

Driving the Scenic Crown Range Road from Wanaka to Arrowtown

2025-06-26T14:57:00.000+08:00

18 March 2025

The plan for the morning was to visit Arrowtown on our drive from Wanaka to Te Anau. There are two routes to get to Arrowtown from Wanaka.

The usual route is through Cromwell but there is a shorter but more challenging way which is via the Crown Range Road.

The Crown Range Road is an exhilarating road with hairpin bends and steep grades. The road over the mountain range is the highest main road in New Zealand. It reaches an altitude of 1121 metres at the summit. There are some switchbacks on the descent towards Queenstown and Arrowtown. Due to its challenges, it is not recommended for new or inexperienced drivers.

View from one of the viewpoints at the summit of the Crown Range Road. It is so high up that sometimes we are driving over or through the clouds.

In winter, the road is often covered in snow and ice, making for very difficult driving conditions and people usually take the longer but safer route through Cromwell.

Since we were doing our road trip in autumn, taking the Crown Range Road to Arrowtown was a no brainer. Besides being shorter, there are plenty to see along the viewpoints on this scenic route.

After a leisurely morning in the luxurious accommodation in Wanaka, we started our journey to Arrowtown at 10 AM. The 55 km drive to Arrowtown via the Crown Range Road should take less than 1 hour but I factored in some time to stop and admire the massive views.

I had also planned a stop at the small town of Cardrona, just to visit a charming old hotel. Cardrona Hotel is one of New Zealand's oldest and most iconic hotels.

About 2 km prior to arriving at the Cardrona Hotel, we made a quick stop alongside the highway to view what is known as the Cardrona Bra Fence.

Cardrona Bra Fence also known as or Brabrona, with hundreds of bra hung on a fence.

It is just next to the highway with some space for cars to pull over and take a look.

Legend has it that 4 drunken partygoers celebrating the 2000 New Year at the Cardrona Hotel hung their bras on a roadside fence. Four bras hanging on a fence inspired others to add to the collection. The collection grew and grew. Now with hundreds of colourful bras, the fence had become an attraction for some and an eye-sore for others.

There is not much to see actually. We just snapped a few photos of this quirky attraction and moved on to the Cardrona Hotel.

View of Cardrona Hotel from across the highway.

1926 Chrysler parked outside.

There is a large parking area opposite the hotel. For some reason, it was unusually chilly on this day. I regretted not putting on an additional layer as we crossed the road and entered the hotel.

The hotel was warm and toasty with a wood fire burning in the lobby area.

We made our way to the restaurant area, hoping to get a cup of warm coffee. Although the menu on the wall was mostly for alcoholic drinks, the bar tender told us we could order coffee from him which we did.

Glad that they served coffee, not just good beer and whiskey at the bar.

While waiting for our coffee to be prepared, I went to check out the garden at the back of the hotel.

The hotel has 17 ensuite rooms with views of the garden. Nice row of roses on front.

The garden area was empty. Partly because the weather was too cold to be sitting outside on this day.

There is a blackboard with some very interesting information of the hotel.

Very interesting FAQ.

How old is the hotel? 161 years.

Is the hotel haunted? Yes, say ‘hi’ to Jimmy.

When did ~~HRH~~ Prince Harry come here? 2015.

I thought it was funny they crossed out the HRH.

Cardrona has a history rooted in the Otago gold rush of the 1860s, evolving from a bustling mining town to a popular tourist destination, particularly for skiing and snowboarding.

A lot of history has been preserved in this hotel. We could see old pictures of the hotel on the wall, information board describing the history of the hotel and artifacts such as wagon wheel, toboggan and ice skates hanging from the ceiling.

Enjoying our coffee in the Cardrona Hotel.

Pictures and drawing of the hotel depicting the hotel in the old days.

There is a glass window on the floor of the lobby that is over an old mine shaft.

Just before leaving the hotel, I went to use the restroom. Just outside the toilet, I saw Jimmy!

It was not the ghost Jimmy but an old painting of the hotel’s owner named Jim Patterson.

Portrait of the hotel’s owner named Jimmy who died in 1961, aged 91.

It is also worth taking a look at the few old buildings next to the Cardrona Hotel.

Old school house with an old phone booth. The school house has been repurposed into a souvenir shop.

General Store, Post and Telegraph and old gas pump.

No longer in use, but the hotel claimed they can charge your EV here.

After enjoying our visit to the historical Cardrona Hotel, we embarked on one of the most scenic drives in the South Island. The Crown Range Road ascends up the mountain range gradually after Cardrona.

One of the few cyclists we saw paddling furiously up the scenic Crown Range Road.

Zigzagging our way up, the Crown Range Road opens up to an expansive view at the summit. There is a large car park with scenic lookout called the Crown Road Summit Lookout (Google Maps location here) that allows travelers to stop and appreciate the views.

Crown Range Road near the summit.

At 1026m above sea level, the Crown Range Summit Lookout is very windy and chilly.

We are literally above the clouds.

There is another lookout point further down the road called the Crown Range Road Scenic Lookout (Google Map location here). Although it is slightly lower in elevation than the summit, the views here are better, in my opinion.

View of the curvy Crown Range Road from the Crown Range Road Scenic Lookout.

A short trail leads to the lookout point with views of the valley below.

A Korean couple helped us take a family photo.

The drive downhill was scarier than driving up. There are sections next to the cliff’s edge with very low safety barriers.

Driving down Crown Range Road towards Queenstown and Arrowtown.

There is another Lookout point called the Arrow Junction Lookout Point (Google Map Location here). We did not stop here.

After the Arrow Junction Lookout Point, we negotiated multiple 360 degrees hairpin turns, descending down to the alpine valley below. Actually, the hairpin turns are not scary compared to the earlier section. The drive down was actually quite fun and we saw trees with autumn foliage on the slopes although it was still not peak autumn season.

Driving down the hairpin turns towards Arrow Junction.

From Arrow Junction, we took McDonnell Road to Arrowtown and parked at the the Buckingham Street Car Park (location here). This car park has free unlimited parking and is located next to the historic Chinese Settlement in Arrowtown.

Next post: Exploring Arrowtown.

Exploring Arrowtown

2025-06-23T22:41:00.000+08:00

18 March 2025

Arrowtown is a living historic gold mining town in the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand. The town was established in 1862, during the height of the Otago gold rush. The settlement grew quickly as pioneers constructed cottages, shops, hotels and churches, more than 60 of which can still be seen today.

Arrowtown is located 19.5 kilometres or 20 minutes drive from Queenstown. Many tourists visit this place as a day trip or half-day trip from Queenstown. For us, Arrowtown is a good pit stop during our drive from Wanaka to Te Anau. Although there are walking and hiking trails around the town, we planned a 2 hour stop for lunch and enjoy the ambience within the historic town.

After an hour of driving through the Crown Range Road from Wanaka, we arrived at Arrowtown and parked at the Buckingham Street Car Park (location here). This car park has free unlimited parking and is located next to the historic Chinese Settlement in Arrowtown.

The first building we saw was the iconic historic wooden hut. Our car was actually parked right in front of it! This hut is one of Arrowtown’s most photographed buildings and is also the oldest surviving timber building in the town. It was constructed in 1863 as part of the Police Camp that offered some security for the gold miners and could even be used to store the gold before it was shipped out from Arrowtown.

The historic police hut with the greenery behind is quite picturesque.

Inside the hut, many boards provide information about the region and the protection of the region.

It was interesting to see the old photographs of Arrowtown and this hut.

Our next stop was the historic Arrowtown Chinese Settlement. This is a partially restored 1880s village of Chinese gold miners, with rustic huts & interpretive signs.

Interpretive sign providing information on NZ’s first Chinese immigrants.

According to the information, about 8000 Chinese came from 1860s to 1880s to work in the minefields. They are segregated and lived as a closed community in clamped huts with poor conditions. They came hoping to make money and returned home one day. Many did not make it home.

An outhouse or toilet. In the background is a building known as Ah Lum’s store that we could inside for a visit.

We went inside a hut that used to be Ah Lum’s store. The building was dark, clamped and had very low doors. The people in those days must be very malnourished and small in stature.

After an educational and informative visit to the Police Hut and the Chinese Settlement, we took a walk down Buckingham Street.

This street is so quaint and rustic, with many old wooden houses that now houses stores, restaurants, cafes plus functional buildings like post office and cinema. It was like a step back in time to the days of the cowboys.

A gold shop to remind us of Arrowtown’s origin.

Buckingham Street still serves as Arrowtown's main thoroughfare and had cars parked on the sidewalks.

The town would look even better without these cars.

In the old days, the miners would tie their horses to this pole.

Bicycle racks for the modern riders.

The Post Office is also a gift shop.

Colourful wall of plants and flowers next to the Post Office.

It was slightly past noon time and we saw a long queue of hungry people outside the Arrowtown Bakery. We went to The Fork And Tap for lunch.

The trees in the hill behind Arrowtown are beginning to show the autumn colours. It would be even nicer in a month’s time.

Walking to the Fork And Tap restaurant for lunch.

Nice food and friendly service staff.

After lunch, we continued our stroll down Buckingham Street. There is a row of old miner’s cottages along a tree lined street that was so photogenic.

Signage indicated the cottages along this tree-line avenue were built in 1870s.

Buckingham Street with the miner’s cottages on one side and the village green on the other.

Many of the cottages had been repurposed into souvenir stores, boutique shops and cafes.

The trees in the background have already some autumn colours. This place would be even more beautiful and colourful in April.

We walked back to town along the village green. There is a public library in the middle. We saw a group of people taking wedding photos on the green. The poor bride must be freezing in her gown as the weather on this day was unusually cold compared to the days earlier and days after.

Library building in the village green.

The trees along the avenue were planted in 1800s.

Standing under a tree that was planted in 1867, the Mary Cotter tree.

The phone booth in Arrowtown, next to the Mary Cotter tree.

The phone booth in Arrowtown has working phones in them.

We walked back along Buckingham Street. We had time to shop for souvenirs and even bought some OTC drugs from the pharmacy.

The Gold Nugget is a huge store with lots and lots of goodies from NZ.

Overall, we enjoyed our time in Arrowtown. This was a good place to have lunch, stretch our legs, buy some souvenirs and also soak up some of the old world charms in this rustic and historic town.